Three-dimensional stereoscopic visualization for air traffic control interfaces: a preliminary study

The "Virtual Sky" project, currently in progress at the Eurocontrol R&D Center investigates the applicability and usability of three-dimensional stereoscopic environment for air traffic control. The present study is embedded within the Virtual Sky project and consists of a first exploratory empirical study. At the beginning of the study, interviews with controllers were conducted. The aim of the interviews was to gather feedback from the end-users, regarding some possible domains of application of the stereoscopic technology in the air traffic control field. After the survey study, a simple task was selected and the controllers were engaged in a test. The test aimed to verify controller's performance in the identification of critical flight levels within air traffic. The test compared performance in a two-dimensional and three-dimensional stereoscopic environment and involved fourteen former operational controllers. The results of the test show that for the designed task under the conditions planned for the test, the subjects performed quickest with the three dimensional stereoscopic displays, with no detriment to the accuracy. These results seem promising, but given the strict experimental conditions, further studies are required so as to generalize the results at an operational level.