Evaluation of Participant Success in Gamified Drone Training Simulator Using Brain Signals and Key Logs.

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Cognitive Science
• Aerospace Engineering

Background:

• Drone operation carries a high risk of accidents, necessitating effective pilot training.
• Virtual training environments offer a safer alternative to physical training for novice drone pilots.
• Assessing educational development in drone pilot trainees requires objective performance metrics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel system for collecting educational development data from students using a Gamified Drone Training Simulator.
• To objectively analyze the cognitive and physical development of students during gamified drone simulator training.
• To correlate simulator performance with neurophysiological and behavioral data.

Main Methods:

• Development of a multimodal recording system capturing simulator interactions, keystroke data, and electroencephalography (EEG) signals.
• Utilizing a gamified drone simulator for training participants.
• Analyzing changes in alpha and beta brainwave activity, meditation, and attention scores over repeated training sessions.

Main Results:

• Decreased power in alpha and beta EEG bands with increased training trials, indicating adaptation to cognitive load.
• Increased meditation and attention scores observed with repeated exposure to the gamified drone training.
• A positive correlation between training repetitions, reduced stress/anxiety, and enhanced game performance.

Conclusions:

• Gamified drone simulator training effectively improves pilot trainees' attention and reduces stress.
• Multimodal data analysis provides objective insights into cognitive and physical skill development in drone pilots.
• Virtual, gamified training environments are crucial for enhancing drone pilot proficiency and safety.