[Nomex Maximus]

OK, this occurred to me the other day.

I have a dislike of having to reach out for most anything on the control panel. I think everything should be controlled from a new style of input device located at the pilots right or left hand when it rests on an armrest. The device is configurable in realtime according to the commands of a flight computer. But that's not what this post is about.

What occurred to me is the idea of the pilot wearing something like a virtual reality vision device. He can look through it and see normally, but it also projects flight information on a combiner in front of his eyes. Unlike a helmet mounted display which has all sorts of complicated mechanisms to track the motion of the head in relation to the outside environment, this device simply displays data directly in front of the pilot regardless of where the pilot is looking.

What it can be used for is for displaying lists of things to choose from - like radio controls, transponder codes, most anything you presently have to choose from when using a Garmin 4xx/5xx type of system. It is not intended to display airspeed/altitude/pitch/roll stuff, just the navigation and engine management stuff perhaps. But what would set this apart from current information displays is that the pilot has a virtual reality glove on one hand that allows him to point to items being displayed in front of him and select them by pointing to them. The great advantage is that you have a much larger virtual control panel (you aren't limited by physical panel space) to work with, and it is at exactly the right "distance" from where your hand and arm want to be - you aren't reaching for anything. And, since you head and arm bounce the same way in turbulence this approach is somewhat immune to turbulence.

For example, the flight computer would display a set of buttons doing something similar to the Garmin unit front panel buttons. You would press a button by pointing to it with your hand with the index finger extended and "touch" it. You would activate it by retracting your index finger, closing your fist and touching your thumb to your fist like you were pressing a thumb switch.

If you don't want to see the virtual display, then simply point to the button that says "standby" and the display will blank except for the button in the corner that says "resume".

Comments?

 

[Kevin Horton]

Unlike a helmet mounted display which has all sorts of complicated mechanisms to track the motion of the head in relation to the outside environment, this device simply displays data directly in front of the pilot regardless of where the pilot is looking.

...

For example, the flight computer would display a set of buttons doing something similar to the Garmin unit front panel buttons. You would press a button by pointing to it with your hand with the index finger extended and "touch" it. You would activate it by retracting your index finger, closing your fist and touching your thumb to your fist like you were pressing a thumb switch.

If you don't want to see the virtual display, then simply point to the button that says "standby" and the display will blank except for the button in the corner that says "resume".

Interesting idea. It could be a useful interface, as long is you minimized the amount of info displayed so as to not hinder the view of the outside world. It might be wise to normally display nothing, and to only present the display upon command from the pilot, and to have it automatically disappear after perhaps 15 seconds of inactivity.

But, the image that the pilot sees will move when he moves his head. If you don't track head position, how would the system know what the pilot was pointing at?

 

[Nomex Maximus]

Works like a mouse

I would work like a mouse does. When you move the mouse across a pad and run out of pad, you pick up the mouse from the pad and reposition it closer on the pad to your arm. Same idea here, when needed, you "pick up" your hand from the virtual display and move it back to where you need it to be.

Yes, you are right, you don;t for example want all the radio details in front of your face every moment. As I wrote, you'd be able to set the display to empty when not using it and recall it when you do want it.