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Defense Intelligence Reference Document Cockpits In The Era Of Breakthrough Flight

Defense Intelligence Agency · 57 pages · text from the file's own layer

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.

  • p. 2 …a series of advanced technology reports produced in FY 2009 under the Defense Intelligence Agency, l…
  • p. 5 …How these advances may affect future cockpits is described, and this is the central message of…
  • p. 6 …the far future, this study evaluates the impact of having achieved the following breakthrough advancements: • Control…
  • p. 12 …then contemplate the consequences that these advances impose onto other systems of the vehicle-in this…
  • p. 21 …In support of the forgoing discussion, we are speculating that heretofore unknown advances in physics regarding…
  • p. 32 …As evidenced by the gaming industry, the motions of the pilot's hands-whether by a…
  • p. 44 …the sensors and functions are known at this time, and it is expected that further advances…
  • p. 45 …Taking advantage of foreseeable advances, such images are likely to be in the form of virtual…
  • p. 48 …advances in cockpits for breakthrough flight might be further advanced by taking advantage of the gaming…
  • p. 51 …on an advanced version or next generation of heads-up display to outline the road, pinpoint…
  • p. 53 …Regardless of such advances, the keyboard is still likely to be around for those lingering tasks…
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where careful changes in position are required that are difficult to infer from just
looking at external landmarks.
VIRTUAL SURROUND DISPLAY
Responding to the likelihood that direct visual contact to the outside environment will
not be available, images of the outside will have to be relayed to the pilot via exterior
cameras and interior displays. Taking advantage of foreseeable advances, such images
are likely to be in the form of virtual displays. This also allows the most critical motion
and orientation cues, along with augmented reality functions, to be superimposed on
these images. At this point, the method of virtual display is not important (e.g., helmet
mounted, projected on screen, or contact lens). The issues addressed here discuss what
is required rather than the details of how those functions are provided.
Exterior Visuals
Since direct visual contact to the outside environment will not be available, images of
the outside will have to be relayed to the pilot. A system of cameras that can see the
external environment are required, plus whatever processing is required to seamlessly
merge these images for projection on the virtual surround display.
Additionally, it would be advantageous to be able to focus in on and magnify the view of
any particular area of the display.
Points of Interest
Taking advantage of the technology for augmented reality, 50 where objects of interest
can be highlighted on a display, this function will be included in the virtual surround
display to flag such things as points of interest, objects, and the trajectories of objects.
Overlays
Ideally, it would be advantageous to be able to superimpose false-color images
representing light spectra beyond normal human perception, such as infrared or
ultraviolet light.
Data Call Up
With such a large projection area available,
physical panels can also be projected onto
manipulated with gesture-based commands.
techniques of visual information display. 51
Sound Augmentation
any of the adaptive displays from the
the virtual surround display and then
This feature can employ ever-evolving
Audio cues shall be included so that the location of objects of interest and alarm states
can be spatially inferred, and redundant information to their locations can be projected
by visual displays. In addition, the vehicle's flight-assist system can speak information
to the pilot. Techniques of using different sounds, as well as the manipulation of a given
sound (i.e., changing the repetition rate of a given beeping tone), will be used.
40
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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.