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thumbnail of Subjective Measures on Task Complexity Using Touchscreens in Flight Operations

Author
Ben Wright, James Blundell, Wojciech Tomasz Korek, & Wen-Chin Li
Abstract
The following preliminary study uses subjective measures of situational awareness, workload, and system usability to assess the effect of touchscreen flight deck displays in simple and complex flying environments during a simulated flight task. Eighteen participants were evaluated whilst flying a simulated aircraft, conducting both simple and complex flight operations. Results showed that situational awareness improved, and perceived workload was maintained, when task complexity was increased during touchscreen interaction on the flight deck. This was likely driven by touchscreens providing increased attentional supply. This improves the flight deck humanmachine interface (HMI) from a pilot-centred perspective by improving access to task-relevant information. There was no significant change in levels of touchscreen usability as flight task complexity increased, once again ratifying the use of touchscreens in assisting cognitive function in some task types. The application and limitations of these findings is discussed.