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Abstract
This paper presents the work of a collaborative project whose objectives are to develop a multimodal cueing environment for near-earth helicopter operations, and to develop methods for assessing pilot workload for real-time and post-mission applications. Considerable research has been devoted to investigating visual requirements of out-the-window scenery for allowing pilots to effectively conduct near-earth helicopter flight. The primary motivation for that body of research has been twofold: 1) operations, where real-time sensor and stored digital terrain data information are employed to operationally recover a visual environment that has been degraded, and 2) simulation, where limited computational resources force visual system design to down-select from a bourgeoning list of visual effects to produce functional realism. In simulation the originating environment being rendered in a given fashion for an intended effect (i.e. Night Vision Goggle simulation) is already known, whereas in degraded conditions the original environment must be inferred from sensor data. As this data is obtained from sources outside human visual sensing range, it must undergo some level of post-processing to be usable. Sensor information can be presented to the pilot in relatively raw form (i.e., a LIDAR point-cloud), or conditioned to reduce cognitive demand on the pilot, using visualization (or pre-interpretive) techniques such as height color-coding, mesh overlay, digital terrain overlay/substitution, and iconic replacement. As the level of pre-interpretive processing increases, the possibility of the pilot generating alternative interpretations decreases. The present research explores the potential benefits of providing the pilot with "perceptual prosthetics" that allow precise local structuring of the environment for contour flight in the presence of visual uncertainties inherent with low-level sensor rendering. A first simulation experiment was conducted that examined 1) visual cueing depicting both terrain slope and aircraft height-above-ground, and 2) spatial (3D) auditory cueing for depicting deviation from desired height-above-ground and impending collision with terrain. Initial results indicate that synergistic visual and auditory cueing can enhance performance, therefore could be used to reduce pilot workload while sustaining performance. A second simulation experiment was designed to assess the convergence of direct and indirect measures of performance during a low-level flight under different workload levels, associated to visibility level, presence or absence of obstacles and/or targets and terrain difficulty. Direct measures included control stick entropy, head motion entropy and eye fixation duration. Indirect measures comprised Index of Cognitive Activity (ICA) and visual search behavior. Preliminary results show promise for using some of these measures as indicators of pilot workload and engagement. All together, the results of these two simulations will provide a framework for the development and evaluation of future advanced multimodal display concepts for helicopter operations during low-level flight.

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  Multimodal Cueing and Assessment of Pilot Engagement During Low Level Flight

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