THE IMPLICATIONS OF DATA-LINK FOR REPRESENTING PILOT REQUEST INFORMATION ON 2D AND 3D AIR-TRAFFIC-CONTROL DISPLAYS

Twenty-three participants (six air traffic control specialists, and 17 pilots trained in fundamental ATC skills), performed a simulation in which they were required to evaluate pilot requests for flight plan ch anges, issued by aircraft depicted on their display. Some requests cou ld be safely granted, whereas others would bring about a mid-air confl ict with other aircraft. Participants evaluated the requests in the co ntext of an airspace depicted on either a conventional 2D planar displ ay or a 3D perspective display. Requests were presented either as voic e messages or were displayed visually. Visual requests were either pri nted at the bottom of the display or represented as vectors, emanating in the requested direction from the requesting aircraft. The results indicated that controllers performed more accurately than pilots, and that performance was generally equivalent with the 2D and the 3D displ ay. Overall performance was best with the auditory-verbal request mode . it was considerably slower with the print mode, presumably because o f the greater visual scanning required. The spatial vector mode offere d performance that was faster than print, but considerably less accura te. Particular deficiencies were noticed with the vector mode when it was used to present complex 3-dimensional requests in the context of t he 3-dimensional display. The results are discussed within the context of their relevance for data-link technology and advanced ATC display concepts. Relevance to industry First, the National Aerospace Industry is undergoing revolutionary changes in the way pilots communicate wit h air traffic controllers (increasingly via computers), and this study examines some implications of that change. Second, all industries are potentially enjoying advances in graphics display technology, particu larly the use of 3D graphics. This paper examines the costs and benefi ts of those graphics on ATC context.