Review of head-worn displays for the Next Generation Air Transportation System

Jarvis (Trey) J. Arthur; Randall E. Bailey; Steven P. Williams; Lawrence J. Prinzel; Kevin J. Shelton; Denise R. Jones; Vincent E. Houston

doi:10.1117/1.OE.56.5.051405

1 February 2017 Review of head-worn displays for the Next Generation Air Transportation System

Jarvis (Trey) J. Arthur, Randall E. Bailey, Steven P. Williams, Lawrence J. Prinzel, Kevin J. Shelton, Denise R. Jones, Vincent E. Houston

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Optical Engineering, Vol. 56, Issue 5, 051405 (February 2017). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.56.5.051405

Abstract

NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) has conducted research in the area of helmet-mounted display (HMD)/head-worn display (HWD) over the past 30 years. Initially, NASA LaRC’s research focused on military applications, but recently NASA has conducted a line of research in the area of HWD for commercial and business aircraft. This work revolved around numerous simulation experiments as well as flight tests to develop technology and data for industry and regulatory guidance. This paper summarizes the results of NASA’s HMD/HWD research. Of note, the work tracks progress in wearable collimated optics, head tracking, latency reduction, and weight. The research lends credence to a small, sunglasses-type form factor of the HWD being acceptable to commercial pilots, and this goal is now becoming technologically feasible. The research further suggests that an HWD may serve as an “equivalent” head-up display (HUD) with safety, operational, and cost benefits. “HUD equivalence” appears to be the economic avenue by which HWDs can become mainstream on the commercial and business aircraft flight deck. If this happens, NASA’s research suggests that additional operational benefits using the unique capabilities of the HWD can open up new operational paradigms.

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Jarvis (Trey) J. Arthur, Randall E. Bailey, Steven P. Williams, Lawrence J. Prinzel, Kevin J. Shelton, Denise R. Jones, and Vincent E. Houston "Review of head-worn displays for the Next Generation Air Transportation System," Optical Engineering 56(5), 051405 (1 February 2017). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.56.5.051405

Received: 28 July 2016; Accepted: 4 January 2017; Published: 1 February 2017

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