Eurocontrol is testing Microvision's prototype Nomad head-worn display for possible use by air traffic controllers to improve visualisation, reduce workload, airport delays, and improve airport safety.
Nomad uses Washington-based Microvision's retinal scanning display (RSD), which projects high-resolution, computer-generated images onto the user's retina, appearing to the controller as a "see-through", arm's-length computer screen.
The display, which provides a "head-up" image overlay against daylight conditions, enables controllers to manage increasingly complex air traffic information systems and to view computer-generated advisories while maintaining visual contact with the terrain and airspace around the airport.
The equipment is expected to be a key aid in improving controller visualisation and reducing the risk of runway incursions, says Microvision, which is also marketing the system to military, medical and industrial market sectors.
The system, scheduled to be released to the market in mid-2001, is being evaluated in Eurocontrol's flight control tower simulator to define application requirements for improving data display visibility.
The move is part of Eurocontrol's air traffic management (ATM) strategy - ATM-2000+ - which is a gate-to-gate approach covering all phases of flight designed to allow the European air traffic system to cope safely and efficiently with rising traffic levels.
"The European ATM and the US Federal Aviation Administration have been looking for technology to meet the aviation community's future requirements for improving ATM service," says Martin Storey, Microvision customer development manager. "The Nomad increases safety through the use of a head-up display that permits reliable readability of electronic data against the most challenging ambient lighting conditions," he adds.
Source: Flight International