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This Defense Intelligence Reference Document from the Defense Intelligence Agency, dated 1 November 2010, is one of a series of advanced technology reports produced in FY 2009 under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications (AAWSA) Program. It proposes a provisional cockpit design for craft driven by speculative breakthrough propulsion, such as control of gravity and inertia and faster-than-light travel. It draws mainly on the book Frontiers of Propulsion Science and on human-machine interface research.
“Mission Control”3 pages
UNCLASSIFIEL,fl"e" Cl"l"!e1,it tl!!L e11t I DEVICES FOR RECEIVING PILOT COMMANDS In much the same way that displays are configured to match the dominant norms of human behavior, so too are the command functions. As evidenced by the gaming industry, the motions of the pilot's hands-whether by a joystick or a Wii controller4 2 - mimic the intended physical motions of the object under control. Some of these control technologies are described below. Physical Controls Devices such as joysticks, toggle switches, thumb wheels, rotary switches, and even keyboards will still be mandatory in cockpits of the future. This is based on needing fixed locations for the most critical displays and controls. Additionally, tactile feedback helps the pilot know that their command has been entered. In moments of crisis, a human can react quickly to reach for just the right switch and detect the sensation when that switch is flipped. Joysticks take advantage of human nature, where hand motions mimic the intended motions of the object under control. Joysticks and pedals with force-feedback or vibration feedback add another element of information that humans can process in parallel-feedback that would not be possible with virtual controls. 43 Despite advances in other data-input technologies (e.g., voice), it is likely that there will be times when a keyboard is required, but its routine use is not expected. Keyboards are an efficient way to accurately enter alphanumeric data and especially narrative text. Conversely, keyboard use is time consuming, physically requires a large space (can be stowed, however), and is subject to errors during vibration or buffeting. Such errors are reduced when having some physical support to help anchor the hands. Gesture-Based Inputs By the time that propulsion breakthroughs become viable, it is likely that gesture-based commands will have evolved past the current systems' problems of misinterpreting wayward motions and will have become an effective way to replace the mouse for cursor control. In addition, it is expected that more options will be available through gestures than through existing mouse buttons (right click, left click, and scrolling). 44 When used in combination with a voice-command system, it is expected to be an effective tool for the more complex and varied instruction sets, such as navigation. For example, the notion of being able to point to a location on an expansive virtual map and say, "go there," seems an ideal implementation. Furthermore, the use of gesture-based inputs in analyzing new data seems appropriate, provided that the lessons from adaptive displays are heeded. Although fascinating, gesture-based commands are dependent on how well the information that they are manipulating is organized. Therefore, these inputs might be prone to the same keyhole errors and mode errors of adaptive displays. Prior lessons regarding quick emergency commands should also be heeded, specifically where all critical commands have dedicated physical controls. Gesture-based commands can be redundant, but again, the physical control should be the dominant source of critical inputs. Consider the event of buffeting, where the position of an 27 UNCLASSIFIED/ ,'l"8" 81'1'181"'1. lal!ilii lil'II,>/
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Report, from the dia collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 57 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.