Number of Saccades and Fixation Duration as Indicators of Pilot Workload

Abstract

The article is focused on the objective measurement of pilot workload during IFR flight. Reducing pilot’s mental load is a major aspect in the design modern aviation systems, and it’s operation. However, as technology has been improving, the aircraft became increasingly complex. As the amount of information needed to be increased, the cockpit layout became the limiting factor. We have decided to focus our measurements on the effects of mental stress caused by a lack of training and flight experience during IFR flight. For our research, we decided to use eye monitoring technology to record eye movements to determine the pilot’s performance. Eye monitoring provides data on the number of eye movements, number of visual intakes, number of saccades, number of blinks, fixations, and the duration of these. The research involved overall six pilots divided into two groups: the experienced and inexperienced. The measurements were performed on the ELITE S923 flight simulator located at Zilina airport, Dolny Hricov. The conclusion of our article summarizes the measurement results and the use of eye track technology in the future.