Validated Technologies to Maintain Spatial Orientation

Maintenance of spatial orientation (SO) is critical for safe military and civilian flight. This work describes the validation of a vibrotactile array that is used to provide continuous orientation information to pilots during flight. Continuous tactile orientation information has the potential to improve the maintenance of SO under conditions of pilot distraction and/or during degraded visual environments. This work summarizes a series of experiments where participants reported their perceived orientation during test flight maneuvers, while under various controlled, sensory reference conditions. During maneuvers where visual, tactile cueing, or information from both combined, all participants maintained spatial orientation. The test flight data were then used to extend a human gravito-inertial orientation biomathematical model that is capable of predicting pilot perceptions resulting from the integration of orientation/motion cues provided by visual, auditory, vestibular, and somatosensory senses.