Tactile cues in continuous operations: a preliminary study

Research has shown that tactile displays are an effective tool for augmenting spatial orientation and situation awareness information provided to aircraft operators. The tactile situation awareness system (TSAS) has been shown to improve flight performance in conditions of degraded visual environments and to safely maintain performance during hover over moving targets. The potential for the user to adapt and habituate to the stimulus of tactile display systems has not yet been investigated.

Four UH-60 current, rated aviators (all male) participated in the pilot study. Subjects completed four consecutive iterations of a 3-h flight profile consisting of 10 maneuvers, totaling 12 h of continuous flight. Flight performance, tactor information, responses to a discomfort questionnaire, and ratings of fatigue symptoms were recorded.

The independent variable in all analyses was session (four levels). The results showed that performance per maneuver and proportion of stimulus cues (measure of response to cues) per maneuver were consistent across sessions using independent-samples Kruskal-Wallis tests.

The findings of this preliminary assessment support the use of tactile displays (consistent with parameters of TSAS) in continuous operations since performance and proportion of stimulus cues presented was consistent over a period of 12 h. In conclusion, the system will require further experimental testing, but these preliminary findings do not suggest performance or response to be affected by any adaptation or habituation to the stimulus.