Objectives
Monitor the pilot’s eye behaviour in the different flight phases (take-off, initial climb, landing, approach and landing) and assess his stress level in these different phases.
Tools
- Analysis of attention and gazepaths with Tobii Eye Tracking Glasses 2
- Physiological activation measurements with Shimmer GSR 3+
Protocol
The pilot was equipped with the EEG and GSR before the flight. For each phase of flight, we monitor where the pilot was looking at and the dispersion of his attention between the instrument panel.
Learnings
This short study highlights a method for analysing and monitoring human operators’ behaviour. We can observe the contribution of eye tracking to evaluate the compliance of procedures in complex environments. Eye tracking can be used along with other sensors to objectively measure affective and cognitive states in complex environments.
Detailed analyses
Initial Climb
In this phase of flight, the pilot’s main concern is to gain altitude at a specific rate of climb in order to maintain an optimal rate.
His attention is therefore mainly focused on the variometer and altitude and not on airspeed. He must quickly glance at the engine parameters to make sure that the powerplant is running properly.
As we can see in the picture here, this is exactly what we observed with most of the fixations located on the appropriate instruments.
Landing
Throughout the final approach and until landing, the pilot must aim for the point on the runway and make the flare while carefully checking that the speed does not drop too much to avoid the risk of stalling.
As we can see, there are 5 revisits between the speedometer and the end point during the short final phase.This indicates that the pilot follows the procedure and reguarly controls the speed of the aircraft to avoid stalling.
