Are We Ready for Take-Off ? Learning Cockpit Actions with VR Headsets

Abstract

Pilot training is crucial for learning and practicing operations and safety procedures. The sooner pilots become acquainted with flight deck instrumentation and actions, the faster, safer, and cost-effective the training. Active learning with pilot training includes searching tasks and memorization ability. These aspects then need to be incorporated into the flight simulator training. The use of virtual reality (VR) technologies can in principle take pilot training to the next level. VR technologies such as head-mounted displays can provide a higher sense of presence in the observed sceneries and a more natural interaction than traditional (non-immersive) display systems (e.g. 2D monitors). There is, however, some reluctance towards using immersive VR systems in aviation training and a lack of knowledge on its effectiveness, which results in slow take-up of VR solutions and the dominant use of 2D monitors. This paper aims to assess the performance advantage an immersive system such as a head-mounted display (HMD) brings to pilot training. The focus is on presence, search tasks and memorization. We experiment with actions of learning instrumentation and procedures in the cockpit. We run the same activities on both a HMD and 2D monitor. We gather data on users’ performance in terms of accuracy, the success of actions, completion time and memorization through objective measurements. We also acquire data on presence and comfort through subjective rating.