Evaluating the Suitability for Eye Tracking in Simulated Rotary-Wing Flight

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Evaluating the Suitability for Eye Tracking in Simulated Rotary-Wing Flight

C. Aura / X. Yue / K. Andres / M. Wilson / K. Feltman

Eye tracking is gaining favor in operator state monitoring (OSM) in that it provides non-invasive access to arousal, autonomic tone, neurological condition, and potentially, cognitive workload by recording changes in pupil diameter and eye movement dynamics. However, the operational environment of rotary-wing aviation has unique challenges to effective eye tracking, such as uncontrolled luminance changes, exposure to vibration, and more physical movement by the aviator than is typical in fixed-wing and ground vehicle systems. Developments in eye tracking technology have enabled researchers to achieve better access to human subjects behavior in a wider range of settings, potentially allowing the assessment of cognitive workload, fatigue, and changes in autonomic function in military operational settings. Many different eye tracking systems are currently available. These can be broadly categorized by configuration as remotely mounted multi-camera arrays, remotely mounted single cameras, and head-mounted camera arrays. These different configurations each have their own pros and cons. To date, no comparison between these different systems has been completed to determine which configuration is most suitable for a cockpit environment.