Perspective Displays for Air Traffic Control: Display of Terrain and Weather

Abstract

In two experiments, 3-dimensional (3D) perspective displays were compared with 2D planar displays for depicting information relevant to two domains that have important 3D components: representation of terrain and of weather. In experiment 1, nine pilots and seven air traffic control (ATC) specialists performed a series of tasks requiring judgments of the trajectory of a lost aircraft (or one requesting assistance) relative to terrain features that were either generic, or simulated the topography around the Las Vegas region. The results revealed a general equivalence of performance between the planar and 3D formats, although there was a tendency on some tasks for lateral judgments to be degraded with the 3D display relative to the planar display. This difference was only shown for the ATC subjects, who had considerable prior experience with the planar format. For both groups, a counterbalanced design allowed us to note an asymmetric transfer effect, such that prior training on the 3D format led to better subsequent performance on the 2D format than did the reverse. This has important implications for the value of 3D displays in training ATC skills. In experiment 2, subjects’ ability to vector aircraft around complex weather formations that were presented in either 2D or 3D formats was examined. Fifteen pilots and one ATC specialist performed a series of tasks requiring judgments of the trajectory of an aircraft relative to simulated weather features west of Columbus, Ohio. Again, the results revealed few substantial differences between the two formats. Consistent between the two experiments was the presence of an advantage for 2D planar displays to provide a means to make quicker decisions determining the perceived threat to the aircraft and to make more precise lateral judgments. To reach a final destination more accurately, the planar display required more vectors to be issued than the perspective display. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.