Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Simple Obstacle-Related Graphical Depictions for Head-Mounted Displays

• Published in: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting 2010-09, Vol.54 (1), p.75-79
• Main Authors: Beringer, Dennis B., Holcomb, Kali
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1541-9312; 1071-1813; 2169-5067
• DOI: 10.1177/154193121005400117

An exploratory study was conducted to evaluate construction of synthetic imagery, presented in a binocular, stereoscopic, see-through head-mounted display (HMD) for depicting obstacles commonly encountered in helicopter operations. In Phase 1, participants examined still images to identify obstacles from graphics depicting two levels of ground-plane representation and three levels of object complexity (depth). They then rated the depictions and responded to perspective-view still images of an obstacle field, indicating which areas corresponded with obstruction-free locations. Context played a major role in identifying obstructions, and presence of guy-wire references was important, both for identification of towers and of areas in the forward view that would be free from obstructions. Preliminary flight-simulator trials indicate pilots having experience with power-line flying interpret the representations literally and not schematically or generically.