Preliminary design of a short-medium range windowless aircraft

This paper describes a new aircraft concept, where all windows, except those for emergency exits, are replaced with simulated windows, which consist of monitors connected to external cameras to overcome the discomfort for the passenger due to the absence of real windows. This concept is developed through an analytical method to estimate the potential advantages for the environment and for airline companies deriving from a windowless configuration for a short-medium range aircraft, within the boundaries of the preliminary design. Actually, the reduction in weight is directly linked to the reduction in fuel consumption, providing advantages in terms of operating costs and emissions of carbon dioxide. The method is applied to four models of short and medium range aircraft, namely Boeing 737\u2013800, Airbus 320, ATR72 and Embraer 190. The results show the benefits of a windowless configuration that become very positive for the operating life of an aircraft and the total fleet, potentially leading to the saving of millions of tons of carbon dioxide every year when applied to the whole fleet of the analyzed aircraft

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES FOR PRELIMINARY USER CENTRED EVALUATION OF REGIONAL AICRAFT CABIN INTERIORS IN VIRTUAL REALITY

One of the main aims of the Horizon 2020 CASTLE (Cabin System Design Towards Passenger Wellbeing) project is to deliver innovative cabin interiors solutions that maximize the comfort and wellbeing of passengers in the next future. In order to achieve such an ambitious objective, an effective HCD (Human Centred Design) approach has been put in place to derive a Human Response Model based on a holistic assessment of comfort. Therefore, the overall CASTLE HCD methodology has been conceived to provide different tools and methods to collect data on the impact that the design of each cabin item has on the user from the earliest design stages. One of these tools is represented by the use of 3D mock-ups in Virtual/Augmented Reality environments to capture data on the user\u2019s perception and to rate the level of appraisal inspired by the specific design solution. In this paper we present the experimental procedures for the Human in the loop simulations in Virtual Reality Environment of the Regional Aircraft solutions provided in the CASTLE Project. First, we introduce the overall procedure plan. Then, we describe the work done for the creation of the Virtual Environment for different scenarios (user standing in the cabin, Galley, Lavatory) and for the subjective evaluation of these cabin items

Augmented reality technology selection based on integrated QFD-AHP model

In the last decade, Augmented Reality has become increasingly popular. As improved performances are gathered in terms of mature hardware and software tools, we are observing the stemming of a huge number of applications of this technology both in the entertainment and in the industrial domains. On the one hand, such applications are usually claimed to bring benefits in terms of productivity or enhancement of the human\u2019s capability to perform tasks. On the other hand, researchers and developers seem not to adequately consider the different meanings that AR assumes when implemented through visualization devices that can differ significantly in nature and in their capability to provide a mixed real-virtual scenario. In this paper, we describe a user-centred method based on an integrated QFD-AHP approach to select the best visualization display technology with regard to a specific application context. The aim is to establish a repeatable and documented process for the identification of the technology that best suits and mitigates the acceptability risks of the transition from a legacy working environment to an AR based operational environment. The method has been developed in the framework of the RETINA (Resilient Synthetic Vision for Advanced Control Tower Air Navigation Service Provision) project involving the end users, in this case, air traffic controllers. Nevertheless, it can be generalised and applied to other contexts of use. Furthermore, in order to be resilient to the fast, technological development in AR, it can be used to update the results as improvements arise in the performance level of the display devices in a specific technology

Evaluation of augmented reality tools for the provision of tower air traffic control using an ecological interface design

One of the major problems faced by the growth of air traffic in the last decade is the limited capacity of the runway especially during low visibility procedures (LVP) due to fog and bad weather. To solve this issue, the project \u201cResilient Synthetic Vision for Advanced Control Tower Air Navigation Service Provision\u201d (RETINA) project, a two-years exploratory research project, under SESAR2020 program, proposes to use new Synthetic Vision (SV) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies for the tower controllers to allow them to conduct safe operations under any Meteorological Conditions while maintaining a high runway throughput, equal to good visibility. In this paper we introduce the Ecological Interface Design (EID) as a methodology to investigate the potential and applicability of SV tools and Virtual/Augmented Reality (V/AR) display techniques for the Air Traffic Control (ATC) service provision by the airport control tower. We explain how the EID framework can be used in RETINA, we experiment the framework on a suitable airport and we provide the EID results comparing normal and LVP conditions with operations using RETINA technologies

Preliminary user centred evaluation of regional aircraft cabin interiors in virtual reality

The main aim of the CASTLE (Cabin System Design Towards Passenger Wellbeing) European project is to deliver innovative interiors solutions that maximize the comfort and wellbeing of passengers in the next future. To achieve such objective, an effective HCD (Human Centred Design) approach has been employed to derive a Human Response Model based on a holistic assessment of comfort. The overall methodology has been conceived to provide different tools and methods to collect data on the impact that the design of each cabin item has on the user from the earliest design stages. One of these tools is represented by using 3D virtual mock-ups to capture data on the user\u2019s perception and to rate the level of appreciation inspired by the specific design. In this paper we present the experimental procedures and the results from a preliminary experimental campaign of Human in the loop simulations in Virtual/Augmented Reality of a Regional Aircraft

Human centred design and evaluation of cabin interiors for business jet aircraft in virtual reality

In the recent past a growing attention to the passenger is emerging overall in the transport domain. Hence, maximising the quality of travelling from the human\u2019s point of view is a new challenge especially in those fields, such as aeronautics, in which technical efficiency, capacity and sustainability have traditionally driven the design process of systems and subsystems. In this context it is crucial to implement an efficient human centred design process in order to foresee the capability of a specific cabin interiors design of meeting the user\u2019s expectations, including the needs related to comfort and well being. By using virtual reality technologies as a vehicle/platform, it allows the users/passengers to experience the interior environment of the cabin long before the actual development and manufacturing of the full size demonstrator. Due to the complex nature of aerospace programmes, typically taking \u2018many\u2019 years to develop and productionise, technologies which help reduce programme risk and potential delays are hugely beneficial to all partners involved. In this paper we present the results of a virtual reality based evaluation campaign specifically conceived for the collection of potential users\u2019 feedback in the design of innovative and breakthrough solutions for the business jet industry. The main issues have regarded the identification of the expectation for such an elitist population and the creation of a Virtual Environment to explore the entire cabin as a holistic approach and innovative passenger experience. The work has been performed in the framework the Horizon 2020 project CASTLE (Cabin Systems Design Toward Passenger Well-being)

Human-in-the-loop evaluation of an augmented reality based interface for the airport control tower

An innovative airport control tower concept based on the use of modern augmented reality technologies has been developed and validated by means of human-in-the-loop experiments in a simulated environment. An optical-based augmented reality interface underpins the proposed concept that consists in providing air traffic control operators in the airport control tower with complete head-up information, as opposed to the current mix of information retrieval through both head-up real view and head-down interfaces. Specific measurement of the time spent by the operator working in either head-up or head-down position, show that the proposal has a clear effect in stimulating the air traffic control operator to work in a head-up position more than in a head-down position, with positive effects on his/her situational awareness and perceived workload, especially when dealing with low visibility conditions operational scenarios

Brain\u2013Computer Interface-Based Adaptive Automation to Prevent Out-Of-The-Loop Phenomenon in Air Traffic Controllers Dealing With Highly Automated Systems

Increasing the level of automation in air traffic management is seen as a measure to increase the performance of the service to satisfy the predicted future demand. This is expected to result in new roles for the human operator: he will mainly monitor highly automated systems and seldom intervene. Therefore, air traffic controllers (ATCos) would often work in a supervisory or control mode rather than in a direct operating mode. However, it has been demonstrated how human operators in such a role are affected by human performance issues, known as Out-Of-The-Loop (OOTL) phenomenon, consisting in lack of attention, loss of situational awareness and de-skilling. A countermeasure to this phenomenon has been identified in the adaptive automation (AA), i.e., a system able to allocate the operative tasks to the machine or to the operator depending on their needs. In this context, psychophysiological measures have been highlighted as powerful tool to provide a reliable, unobtrusive and real-time assessment of the ATCo's mental state to be used as control logic for AA-based systems. In this paper, it is presented the so-called "Vigilance and Attention Controller", a system based on electroencephalography (EEG) and eye-tracking (ET) techniques, aimed to assess in real time the vigilance level of an ATCo dealing with a highly automated human-machine interface and to use this measure to adapt the level of automation of the interface itself. The system has been tested on 14 professional ATCos performing two highly realistic scenarios, one with the system disabled and one with the system enabled. The results confirmed that (i) long high automated tasks induce vigilance decreasing and OOTL-related phenomena; (ii) EEG measures are sensitive to these kinds of mental impairments; and (iii) AA was able to counteract this negative effect by keeping the ATCo more involved within the operative task. The results were confirmed by EEG and ET measures as well as by performance and subjective ones, providing a clear example of potential applications and related benefits of AA

Design and implementation of eye tracking application for generation of augmented reality content on spatial see through display of remote and virtual control tower (RVT)

Airports are a fundamental node in the aviation system. The growth of this sector undergoes the evolution of the airports procedures and infrastructures. Air traffic control is considered to be one of the most important activity performed in an airport. This often involves numerous personnel, construction and maintenance costs etc. With the ongoing digitalisation process in various fields, the concept of remote and virtual control towers (RVT) has emerged owing to the innovation in this field. Technologies such as augmented reality (AR) have successfully paved their smooth way to bring in improvements to an RVT. The current work aims to enhance and improve the controller work in an RVT exploiting the adaption of virtual reality and AR systems. In particular, this concept is under investigation within the EU funded SESAR project: RETINA (Resilient Synthetic Vision for Advanced Control Tower Air Navigation Service Provision) and DTT (Digital Technologies for Tower). AR content generation by virtue of various display technologies are studied and, Optical Spatial See-through displays (O SSTDs) have been considered for its own advantages in developing this application. One of the necessary requirements of AR in this configuration is identified as the tracking of the operator’s point of view (eye-tracking), to provide virtual content consistent with its real position. Thus, this paper elaborates the design of specific eye-tracking system using Microsoft Kinect V2 for the virtual control tower application. The need to have binocular vision to use AR content is assessed and the interface has been tested with few subjects to evaluate the precision of the measurements detected through the proposed solution