More good news from NASA :-) Two thoughts: Pilots will NOT be able to have obstructive displays in their field of view and there could be a LOT of data that needs to be displayed. Therefore, it looks like MVIS has a product that would fit into this desired scheme. Full color would be nice - eventually - but for this initial application, it's probably not a requirement but would be a good upgrade. (Analogy is Weather RADAR. Was basic raw return, then digital green and eventually went full color as display and processing tech became more affordable).
Better keep close tabs on those shorts!
CAP
NASA To Test 'Synthetic Vision'
October 11, 1999
HAMPTON, VA. (AP) - NASA researchers
are planning their first test of a high-tech
cockpit display designed to give commercial
pilots a clear, virtual reality view even when
the weather is bad.
The display works like a detailed,
three-dimensional video game, showing
mountains, runways and other landscape
features as the plane approaches.
Researchers call it ''synthetic vision'' and
say it could dramatically cut the number of
accidents caused by poor visibility.
''I am extremely confident that in the
future, this will be the way the world will fly,''
said Mike Lewis, director of the nation's
Aviation Safety Program, led by NASA's
Langley Research Center.
He predicted synthetic vision could be on
commercial planes in five years.
Visibility-induced errors account for more
than 30 percent of fatal air accidents. A pilot
who can't see landmarks can become
disoriented and make deadly mistakes.
Some have theorized that's what happened
when John F. Kennedy Jr. crashed this
summer when he was trying to land his plane
at night on Martha's Vineyard.
On Monday, NASA plans to have a pilot fly a
Convair twin-propeller research plane from
Hampton to Asheville, N.C., using a 3-D map
on a cockpit screen.
The map was built from a database compiled
from images taken by a survey aircraft, Lewis
said. It cost $50,000 to map the test flight
route alone.
NASA plans to develop a more comprehensive
database using radar on an upcoming space
shuttle mission that will map 80 percent of
the world's land surface for the Defense
Department's National Imagery and Mapping
Agency.
NASA expects to spend roughly $75 million
over five years to develop synthetic vision,
with private companies kicking in an
additional $20 million to $30 million, Lewis
said.
Ultimately, he said, commercial and private
pilots may wear virtual-reality goggles that
will keep the display in front of their eyes at
all times.
[Copyright 1999, Associated Press] |
