Evaluation of a Tunnel-in-the-Sky Head-Up Display Design for Curved Approaches Using Eye-Tracking

Abstract. Head-up displays (HUD) assist pilots, especially in the approach and landing phase. In this paper we compared pilots’ eye-tracking behavior between a pathway-in-the-sky layout versus the more conventional two-dimensional symbology in an HUD in a fixed-based cockpit simulator. In particular, we wanted to assess how visual attention was distributed within each layout (tunnel and standard). Performance and eye-tracking data were recorded, as well as workload and situation awareness measures. Results showed that the tunnel-in-the-sky symbology provided a very high tracking performance with low perceived workload and high perceived situational awareness. The analysis of the eye-tracking data revealed possible attentional tunneling with the tunnel-in-the-sky symbology and large differences between the displays in the distribution of visual attention.