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At least 181 records · Page 10

Use of the tilt cue in a simulated heading tracking task

The task was performed with subjects using visual-only cues and combined visual and roll-axis motion cues. Half of the experimental trials were conducted with the simulator rotating about the horizontal axis; to suppress the tilt cue, the remaining trials were conducted with the simulator cab tilted 90 deg so that roll-axis motions were about earth vertical. The presence of the tilt cue allowed a substantial and statistically significant reduction in performance scores. When the tilt cue was suppressed, the availability of motion cues did not result in significant performance improvement. These effects were accounted for by the optimal-control pilot/vehicle model, wherein the presence or absence of various motion cues was represented by appropriate definition of the perceptual quantities assumed to be used by the human operator.

Levison, W. H.↗

Relationship between selected orientation rest frame, circular vection and space motion sickness

Space motion sickness (SMS) and spatial orientation and motion perception disturbances occur in 70-80% of astronauts. People select "rest frames" to create the subjective sense of spatial orientation. In microgravity, the astronaut's rest frame may be based on visual scene polarity cues and on the internal head and body z axis (vertical body axis). The data reported here address the following question: Can an astronaut's orientation rest frame be related and described by other variables including circular vection response latencies and space motion sickness? The astronaut's microgravity spatial orientation rest frames were determined from inflight and postflight verbal reports. Circular vection responses were elicited by rotating a virtual room continuously at 35 degrees/s in pitch, roll and yaw with respect to the astronaut. Latency to the onset of vection was recorded from the time the crew member opened their eyes to the onset of vection. The astronauts who used visual cues exhibited significantly shorter vection latencies than those who used internal z axis cues. A negative binomial regression model was used to represent the observed total SMS symptom scores for each subject for each flight day. Orientation reference type had a significant effect, resulting in an estimated three-fold increase in the expected motion sickness score on flight day 1 for astronauts who used visual cues. The results demonstrate meaningful classification of astronauts' rest frames and their relationships to sensitivity to circular vection and SMS. Thus, it may be possible to use vection latencies to predict SMS severity and duration.

short duration↗

Visual Features Involving Motion Seen from Airport Control Towers

Visual motion cues are used by tower controllers to support both visual and anticipated separation. Some of these cues are tabulated as part of the overall set of visual features used in towers to separate aircraft. An initial analyses of one motion cue, landing deceleration, is provided as a basis for evaluating how controllers detect and use it for spacing aircraft on or near the surface. Understanding cues like it will help determine if they can be safely used in a remote/virtual tower in which their presentation may be visually degraded.

Ellis, Stephen R.↗

First-Order-hold interpolation digital-to-analog converter with application to aircraft simulation

Those who design piloted aircraft simulations must contend with the finite size and speed of the available digital computer and the requirement for simulation reality. With a fixed computational plant, the more complex the model, the more computing cycle time is required. While increasing the cycle time may not degrade the fidelity of the simulated aircraft dynamics, the larger steps in the pilot cue feedback variables (such as the visual scene cues), may be disconcerting to the pilot. The first-order-hold interpolation (FOHI) digital-to-analog converter (DAC) is presented as a device which offers smooth output, regardless of cycle time. The Laplace transforms of these three conversion types are developed and their frequency response characteristics and output smoothness are compared. The FOHI DAC exhibits a pure one-cycle delay. Whenever the FOHI DAC input comes from a second-order (or higher) system, a simple computer software technique can be used to compensate for the DAC phase lag. When so compensated, the FOHI DAC has (1) an output signal that is very smooth, (2) a flat frequency response in frequency ranges of interest, and (3) no phase error. When the input comes from a first-order system, software compensation may cause the FOHI DAC to perform as an FOHE DAC, which, although its output is not as smooth as that of the FOHI DAC, has a smoother output than that of the ZOH DAC.

Cleveland, W. B.↗

M.I.T./Canadian Vestibular Experiments on the Spacelab-1 Mission. Part 1: Sensory Adaptation to Weightlessness and Readaptation to One-G: An Overview

Experiments on human spatial orientation were conducted on four crewmembers of Space Shuttle Spacelab Mission 1. The conceptual background of the project, the relationship among the experiments, and their relevance to a 'sensory reinterpretation hypothesis' are presented. Detailed experiment procedures and results are presented in the accompanying papers in this series. The overall findings are discussed as they pertain to the following aspects of hypothesized sensory reinterpretation in weightlessness: (1) utricular otolith afferent signals are reinterpreted as indicating head translation rather than tilt, (2) sensitivity of reflex responses to footward acceleration is reduced, and (3) increased weighting is given to visual and tactile cues in orientation perception and posture control. Results suggest increased weighting of visual cues and reduced weighting of graviceptor signals in weightlessness.

Young, Laurence R.↗

Age-related changes in human posture control: Sensory organization tests

Postural control was measured in 214 human subjects ranging in age from 7 to 81 years. Sensory organization tests measured the magnitude of anterior-posterior body sway during six 21 s trials in which visual and somatosensory orientation cues were altered (by rotating the visual surround and support surface in proportion to the subject's sway) or vision eliminated (eyes closed) in various combinations. No age-related increase in postural sway was found for subjects standing on a fixed support surface with eyes open or closed. However, age-related increases in sway were found for conditions involving altered visual or somatosensory cues. Subjects older than about 55 years showed the largest sway increases. Subjects younger than about 15 years were also sensitive to alteration of sensory cues. On average, the older subjects were more affected by altered visual cues whereas younger subjects had more difficulty with altered somatosensory cues.

Peterka, R. J.↗

Visually directed pointing as a function of target distance, direction, and available cues.

In pointing at visual targets without sight of the hand, large errors occur. There is a tendency to overreach targets, and this tendency is much greater (about 25 cm) when convergence is the only cue to distance than when there are many cues (2 to 11 cm). Angular errors of up to 10 deg also occur. These tend to be to the side opposite the sighting eye, when the favored hand is used. The variance of the pointing response with convergence alone is reduced by approximately half with the introduction of several spatial cues. These results are interpreted as indicating that, for a target within the reach of the arm and with convergence alone as a cue, the depth signal produced by the visual system corresponds to a greater distance than that produced when many cues are available. The results are also consistent with the hypothesis that perceived direction tends to approximate direction from the sighting eye.

Foley, J. M.↗

Human operator dynamics for aural compensatory tracking

The human operator's ability to control using aural information only and using combined aural and visual displays was investigated for a simple tracking task. Tracking error was presented to the test subjects using one- and two-ear displays. For both displays the pitch of the tone represented the magnitude of the tracking error. The operator's aural control characteristics were modeled as a describing function plus a remnant. The effects on the measured describing function and remnant of different system dynamics, changes in the frequency content of the input and different displays were determined during the study. The describing function and remnant data indicate that humans can control as well with aural cues as with visual cues for the task considered. However, the reduction in operator time delays, expected because of the generally faster human response to aural stimuli, was not evident in the results. It was also determined that the operators could control equally well with either the one- or two-ear display.

Vinje, E. W.↗

Motion/visual cueing requirements for vortex encounters during simulated transport visual approach and landing

This paper addresses the issues of motion/visual cueing fidelity requirements for vortex encounters during simulated transport visual approaches and landings. Four simulator configurations were utilized to provide objective performance measures during simulated vortex penetrations, and subjective comments from pilots were collected. The configurations used were as follows: fixed base with visual degradation (delay), fixed base with no visual degradation, moving base with visual degradation (delay), and moving base with no visual degradation. The statistical comparisons of the objective measures and the subjective pilot opinions indicated that although both minimum visual delay and motion cueing are recommended for the vortex penetration task, the visual-scene delay characteristics were not as significant a fidelity factor as was the presence of motion cues. However, this indication was applicable to a restricted task, and to transport aircraft. Although they were statistically significant, the effects of visual delay and motion cueing on the touchdown-related measures were considered to be of no practical consequence.

Parrish, R. V.↗

Visual/motion cue mismatch in a coordinated roll maneuver

The effects of bandwidth differences between visual and motion cueing systems on pilot performance for a coordinated roll task were investigated. Visual and motion cue configurations which were acceptable and the effects of reduced motion cue scaling on pilot performance were studied to determine the scale reduction threshold for which pilot performance was significantly different from full scale pilot performance. It is concluded that: (1) the presence or absence of high frequency error information in the visual and/or motion display systems significantly affects pilot performance; and (2) the attenuation of motion scaling while maintaining other display dynamic characteristics constant, affects pilot performance.

Shirachi, D. K.↗

Slushy weightings for the optimal pilot model

A pilot model is described which accounts for the effect of motion cues in a well defined visual tracking task. The effect of visual and motion cues are accounted for in the model in two ways. First, the observation matrix in the pilot model is structured to account for the visual and motion inputs presented to the pilot. Secondly, the weightings in the quadratic cost function associated with the pilot model are modified to account for the pilot's perception of the variables he considers important in the task. Analytic results obtained using the pilot model are compared to experimental results and in general good agreement is demonstrated. The analytic model yields small improvements in tracking performance with the addition of motion cues for easily controlled task dynamics and large improvements in tracking performance with the addition of motion cues for difficult task dynamics.

Dillow, J. D.↗

The footprints of visual attention in the Posner cueing paradigm revealed by classification images

In the Posner cueing paradigm, observers' performance in detecting a target is typically better in trials in which the target is present at the cued location than in trials in which the target appears at the uncued location. This effect can be explained in terms of a Bayesian observer where visual attention simply weights the information differently at the cued (attended) and uncued (unattended) locations without a change in the quality of processing at each location. Alternatively, it could also be explained in terms of visual attention changing the shape of the perceptual filter at the cued location. In this study, we use the classification image technique to compare the human perceptual filters at the cued and uncued locations in a contrast discrimination task. We did not find statistically significant differences between the shapes of the inferred perceptual filters across the two locations, nor did the observed differences account for the measured cueing effects in human observers. Instead, we found a difference in the magnitude of the classification images, supporting the idea that visual attention changes the weighting of information at the cued and uncued location, but does not change the quality of processing at each individual location.

Non-NASA Center↗

M.I.T./Canadian vestibular experiments on the Spacelab-1 mission: 4. Space motion sickness: symptoms, stimuli, and predictability

Space sickness symptoms were observed by 4 specially trained observers on Spacelab-1. Three reported persistent symptoms, and vomited repeatedly during the first and/or second day of flight. Head movements on all axes were provocative, particularly in pitch and roll. Head acceleration data recorded from 2 symptomatic crewmen showed that after several hours of physical activity in orbit, symptoms appeared, and thereafter both crewmen were compelled to limit head movements. Firm body contact with motionless surfaces helped alleviate symptoms. When crewmembers floated into unfamiliar body orientations in the cabin, inherent ambiguities in static visual orientation cues sometimes produced spatial reorientation episodes which were also provocative. Symptoms largely resembled those of other forms of prolonged motion sickness, superimposed upon other symptoms attributable to fluid shift. All 4 eventually used anti-motion sickness drugs. When they did, vomiting frequency was reduced. By the 4th day, symptoms subsided, and head accelerations again increased in magnitude and variability. Sickness intensity in orbit was not predicted by statistically concordant results of 6 acute preflight susceptibility tests. However, results from a longer duration preflight prism goggles test showed an apparent correlation. All subjects were asymptomatic making head movements in parabolic flight 4 days after the mission, but not 1 year later. Overall, results support the view that space sickness is a motion sickness.

Non-NASA Center↗

Role of orientation reference selection in motion sickness

The overall objective of this proposal is to understand the relationship between human orientation control and motion sickness susceptibility. Three areas related to orientation control will be investigated. These three areas are (1) reflexes associated with the control of eye movements and posture, (2) the perception of body rotation and position with respect to gravity, and (3) the strategies used to resolve sensory conflict situations which arise when different sensory systems provide orientation cues which are not consistent with one another or with previous experience. Of particular interest is the possibility that a subject may be able to ignore an inaccurate sensory modality in favor of one or more other sensory modalities which do provide accurate orientation reference information. We refer to this process as sensory selection. This proposal will attempt to quantify subjects' sensory selection abilities and determine if this ability confers some immunity to the development of motion sickness symptoms. Measurements of reflexes, motion perception, sensory selection abilities, and motion sickness susceptibility will concentrate on pitch and roll motions since these seem most relevant to the space motion sickness problem. Vestibulo-ocular (VOR) and oculomotor reflexes will be measured using a unique two-axis rotation device developed in our laboratory over the last seven years. Posture control reflexes will be measured using a movable posture platform capable of independently altering proprioceptive and visual orientation cues. Motion perception will be quantified using closed loop feedback technique developed by Zacharias and Young (Exp Brain Res, 1981). This technique requires a subject to null out motions induced by the experimenter while being exposed to various confounding sensory orientation cues. A subject's sensory selection abilities will be measured by the magnitude and timing of his reactions to changes in sensory environments. Motion sickness susceptibility will be measured by the time required to induce characteristic changes in the pattern of electrogastrogram recordings while exposed to various sensory environments during posture and motion perception tests. The results of this work are relevant to NASA's interest in understanding the etiology of space motion sickness. If any of the reflex, perceptual, or sensory selection abilities of subjects are found to correlate with motion sickness susceptibility, this work may be an important step in suggesting a method of predicting motion sickness susceptibility. If sensory selection can provide a means to avoid sensory conflict, then further work may lead to training programs which could enhance a subject's sensory selection ability and therefore minimize motion sickness susceptibility.

Peterka, Robert J.↗

Empirical comparison of a fixed-base and a moving-base simulation of a helicopter engaged in visually conducted slalom runs

Combined visual, motion, and aural cues for a helicopter engaged in visually conducted slalom runs at low altitude were studied. The evaluation of the visual and aural cues was subjective, whereas the motion cues were evaluated both subjectively and objectively. Subjective and objective results coincided in the area of control activity. Generally, less control activity is present under motion conditions than under fixed-base conditions, a fact attributed subjectively to the feeling of realistic limitations of a machine (helicopter) given by the addition of motion cues. The objective data also revealed that the slalom runs were conducted at significantly higher altitudes under motion conditions than under fixed-base conditions.

Parrish, R. V.↗

Recent ground-based and in-flight simulator studies of low-speed handling characteristics of supersonic cruise transport aircraft

Several advanced arrow-wing concepts have evolved from NASA's Supersonic Cruise Aircraft Research (SCAR) Program. Evaluations of the low-speed handling characteristics of these configurations have been conducted at Langley Research Center using a fixed-base ground simulator with a visual landing scene. A brief in-flight simulation program was also conducted using Calspan's Total In-Flight Simulator (TIFS) in order to provide: (1) points of reference for interpretation of the ground-simulator results, (2) data for control-system design tradeoffs, and (3) data on effects of real-world visual height cues and cockpit-motion cues not available in the fixed-base simulation. The more significant results of these studies are presented.

Grantham, W. D.↗