Gaze-contingent multiresolutional displays (GCMRDs) center high-resolution information on the user's gaze position, matching the user's area of interest (AOI). Image resolution and details outside the AOI are reduced, lowering the requirements for processing resources and transmission bandwidth in demanding display and imaging applications. This review provides a general framework within which GCMRD research can be integrated, evaluated, and guided. GCMRDs (or "moving windows") are analyzed in terms of (a) the nature of their images (i.e., "multiresolution," "variable resolution," "space variant," or "level of detail"), and (b) the movement of the AOI (i.e., "gaze contingent," "foveated," or "eye slaved"). We also synthesize the known human factors research on GCMRDs and point out important questions for future research and development. Actual or potential applications of this research include flight, medical, and driving simulators; virtual reality; remote piloting and teleoperation; infrared and indirect vision; image transmission and retrieval; telemedicine; video teleconferencing; and artificial vision systems.

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Gaze-contingent multiresolutional displays: an integrative review.

Helmet-Mounted Displays: Design Issues for Rotary-Wing Aircraft

The objective of this study was to evaluate differences in driving performance, visual detection performance, and eye-scanning behavior between glaucoma patients and control participants without glaucoma. Glaucoma patients (n = 23) and control participants (n = 12) completed four 5-min driving sessions in a simulator. The participants were instructed to maintain the car in the right lane of a two-lane highway while their speed was automatically maintained at 100 km/h. Additional tasks per session were: Session 1: none, Session 2: verbalization of projected letters, Session 3: avoidance of static obstacles, and Session 4: combined letter verbalization and avoidance of static obstacles. Eye-scanning behavior was recorded with an eye-tracker. Results showed no statistically significant differences between patients and control participants for lane keeping, obstacle avoidance, and eye-scanning behavior. Steering activity, number of missed letters, and letter reaction time were significantly higher for glaucoma patients than for control participants. In conclusion, glaucoma patients were able to avoid objects and maintain a nominal lane keeping performance, but applied more steering input than control participants, and were more likely than control participants to miss peripherally projected stimuli. The eye-tracking results suggest that glaucoma patients did not use extra visual search to compensate for their visual field loss. Limitations of the study, such as small sample size, are discussed.

/pdf/obstacle-avoidance-visual-detection-performance-and-eye-3mqbgtg7e9.pdf

Obstacle avoidance, visual detection performance, and eye-scanning behavior of glaucoma patients in a driving simulator: A preliminary study

Head-mounted displays

As the financial system in most emerging economies is centred on banks, an important aspect of the development of bond markets is the impact on the banking system. One frequently heard worry is that bond markets could take business away from the banks. This raises some potential concerns for bank supervisors. On the other hand, if it means firms are less vulnerable to weaknesses in the banking system, corporate bond issuance can help central banks achieve steady economic growth. Banks also play an important role in developing a private sector bond market as they are often among the most important issuers, holders, dealers, advisers, underwriters, guarantors, trustees, custodians and registrars in this market. Indeed, banks are deriving more of their profits from such activities and less from lending. For this reason, it is important to have healthy banks to have a sound bond market. And a bond market may improve the health of banks, by improving market discipline.

Bond markets and banks in emerging economies

The work reported in this paper examines the effect of restricting visual field-of-view (FOV) on rotorcraft pilot head movement. To simulate the FOVs of current and future helmet mounted displays (HMDs) used for night vision pilotage, a FOV restrictor was attached to the helmets of the test subject pilots. The restrictor limited horizontal FOV to 100, 80, 60, 40, and 20 degrees. Ten test subject pilots executed a set of low altitude flight maneuvers in an instrumented NAH-1S helicopter at the NASA Crows' Landing Airfield Head movement was measured with an IR head tracker for those pilots who flew in the rear seat and by a video camera for those who flew in the front seat. Test data indicated that pilots responded to restriction sin horizontal FOV by changing their pattern of head movement, both in azimuth and elevation. These compensation strategies change as FOV decreases and vary from pilot to pilot. Test results reported in this paper, in conjunction with referenced data outlining FOV effects on flight performance, handling qualities, and visual cue ratings, give visionic system designers and users predictive information on pilot workload and performance.

Effects of in-flight field-of-view restriction on rotorcraft pilot head movement

A joint-service team led by the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Munitions and Sensors Directorates completed a successful flight test demonstration of the 3D-LZ Helicopter LADAR Imaging System. This was a milestone demonstration in the development of technology solutions for a problem known as “helicopter brownout”, the loss of situational awareness caused by swirling sand during approach and landing. The 3D-LZ LADAR was developed by H.N. Burns Engineering and integrated with the US Army Aeroflightdynamics Directorate’s Brown-Out Symbology System aircraft state symbology aboard a US Army EH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. The combination of these systems provided an integrated degraded visual environment landing solution with landing zone situational awareness as well as aircraft guidance and obstacle avoidance information. Pilots from the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps achieved a 77% landing rate in full brownout conditions at a test range at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona. This paper will focus on the LADAR technology used in 3D-LZ and the results of this milestone demonstration.

3D-LZ Helicopter Ladar Imaging System

The Aeroflightdynamics Directorate of the US Army's Aviation Research, Development and Engineering Center initiated a study to determine the effects of limiting a rotorcraft pilot's field-of-view (FOV) on performance and workload. Pilot FOV was restricted to simulate current and next generation helmet mounted display FOVs used in night vision systems. A helmet visor was constructed for this test to restrict the horizontal peripheral limits of the square shaped FOV to values of 100, 80, 60, 40, and 20 degrees. The vertical limits and overlap were held constant to 40 degrees (except for the 20 degree FOV). Six pilots executed a series of prescribed low altitude maneuvers with an instrumented NAH-IS (Cobra) rotorcraft at the Crows Landing Airfield located in California. The aircraft flight path was measured with a laser tracker. On board data was recorded, as well as pilot handling quality ratings and visual cue ratings. This test is not yet complete, but some preliminary observations and results are provided. It was observed that reducing FOV increased the difficulty of controlling the aircraft and altered head movement. Reducing FOV also diminished the pilots' situational awareness. The reduction in situational awareness affected the ability of the pilots to provide an accurate report of their own flying performance, and the ability to observe warning indicators inside the cockpit.

Effect of field-of-view restriction on rotocraft pilot workload and performance: preliminary results

A flight test was conducted in 2013 to evaluate progress on three technologies that together were intended to enable safe low-level flight, landing, hover, and take-off in degraded visual environments with obstacles to avoid The three classes of complementary technologies were: 1 A LAser Detection and Ranging (LADAR) sensor detected obstacles and terrain and created a three-dimensional database of geo-referenced samples 2 Visual cueing was provided to the pilot of the LADAR data, aircraft state, and guidance to landing or hover 3 A partial authority fight control augmentation system with Modernized Control Laws (MCLAWS) was engaged for some of the maneuvers to reduce pilot workload This paper focuses on the visual cueing technologies (item 2 above) Fifty-five successful landings were accomplished in 2013 by seven evaluation pilots from across the services in brownout conditions at the dust range at Yuma Proving Ground Performance data is compared to a previous test in 2009 in which 20 landings were accomplished with the same aircraft Both dust landing tests were intermediate milestones for the Three Dimensional Landing Zone (3D-LZ) program on the path to a capstone Joint Capability Technology Demonstration planned for 2014

3D-LZ Flight Test of 2013: Landing an EH-60L Helicopter in a Brownout Degraded Visual Environment

The Three-Dimensional Landing Zone (3D-LZ) Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) is a 27-month program to develop an integrated LADAR and FLIR capability upgrade for USAF Combat Search and Rescue HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters through a retrofit of current Raytheon AN/AAQ-29 turret systems. The 3D-LZ JCTD builds upon a history of technology programs using high-resolution, imaging LADAR to address rotorcraft cruise, approach to landing, landing, and take-off in degraded visual environments with emphasis on brownout, cable warning and obstacle avoidance, and avoidance of controlled flight into terrain. This paper summarizes ladar development, flight test milestones, and plans for a final flight test demonstration and Military Utility Assessment in 2014.

Zoltan Szoboszlay

Papers

Effects of in-flight field-of-view restriction on rotorcraft pilot head movement

3D-LZ Helicopter Ladar Imaging System

Effect of field-of-view restriction on rotocraft pilot workload and performance: preliminary results

3D-LZ Flight Test of 2013: Landing an EH-60L Helicopter in a Brownout Degraded Visual Environment

Three-dimensional landing zone joint capability technology demonstration