EXPLORING THE DIMENSIONS OF EGOCENTRICITY IN AIRCRAFT NAVIGATION DISPLAYS

Researchers explain a model of navigation that proposes that local gui dance and global awareness are better supported by more, and less, ego centric displays, respectively. Greater egocentrism is created by pers pective viewing, map rotation, and viewpoint positions that correspond to the axis of control. The model was tested in an experiment in whic h 40 pilots flew simulated landings with displays that varied the degr ee of egocentrism between a fully egocentric viewpoint, 3 distances of exocentric 3-dimensional viewpoints, and a 2-dimensional planar displ ay. The results generally supported model predictions: The egocentric viewpoint supported best guidance, whereas the mid-distance exocentric viewpoint supported best global awareness. Implications of the model for the design of flight displays in particular, and navigational disp lays in general, are discussed.