A concept for a virtual flight deck shown on an HMD

Abstract

A combination of see-through head-worn or helmet-mounted displays (HMDs) and imaging sensors is frequently used to overcome the limitations of the human visual system in degraded visual environments (DVE). A visual-conformal symbology displayed on the HMD allows the pilots to see objects such as the landing site or obstacles being invisible otherwise. These HMDs are worn by pilots sitting in a conventional cockpit, which provides a direct view of the external scene through the cockpit windows and a user interface with head-down displays and buttons. In a previous publication, we presented the advantages of replacing the conventional head-down display hardware by virtual instruments. These “virtual aircraft-fixed cockpit instruments” were displayed on the Elbit JEDEYE system, a binocular, see-through HMD. The idea of our current work is to not only virtualize the display hardware of the flight deck, but also to replace the direct view of the out-the-window scene by a virtual view of the surroundings. This imagery is derived from various sensors and rendered on an HMD, however without see-through capability. This approach promises many advantages over conventional cockpit designs. Besides potential weight savings, this future flight deck can provide a less restricted outside view as the pilots are able to virtually see through the airframe. The paper presents a concept for the realization of such a virtual flight deck and states the expected benefits as well as the challenges to be met.