N121-041 TITLE: Innovative Collimated Controller Displays

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Information Systems, Battlespace, Human Systems

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMA 205

RESTRICTION ON PERFORMANCE BY FOREIGN CITIZENS (i.e., those holding non-U.S. Passports): This topic is "ITAR Restricted". The information and materials provided pursuant to or resulting from this topic are restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120 - 130, which control the export of defense-related material and services, including the export of sensitive technical data. Foreign Citizens may perform work under an award resulting from this topic only if they hold the "Permanent Resident Card", or are designated as "Protected Individuals" as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3). If a proposal for this topic contains participation by a foreign citizen who is not in one of the above two categories, the proposal will be rejected.

OBJECTIVE: Develop innovative visual displays to provide variable collimation and improved 3D depth perception for rotary wing chin windows and cargo hatch operation.

DESCRIPTION: Visual systems used for flight simulation have traditionally concentrated on training fixed-wing pilots. For fixed-wing training high-detail is primarily critical only for target models and for relatively distant airfields (viewed out the front windscreen).

Rotary wing platforms require a different set of flight regimes and a more complex set of close proximity visual cues during hovering, take-off and landing, search and rescue, confined area and emergency landing, and cargo loading/unloading operations. For example, current visual displays used for operation and training do not present stereo imagery to the viewer and as a result these non-variable collimation displays create only a distant background effect, resulting in ground appearances that are distorted and unrealistic when the controller/trainee needs to make critical judgments of distance to points of interest in the environment and the corresponding relative motion/closure rate. An innovative variable collimation display that can selectively present stereo scenes (with appropriate and continuously changing depth information) will correct for this lack of cuing and enable initial and refresher training for tasks.

A new visual display design that is light-weight and thin enough to be incorporated into existing rotary wing and VSTOL simulator housings is sought. Current collimated display designs provide fixed (rather than variable) depth perception and are too bulky and expensive to be used in these critical application settings. The resulting display should have a sufficiently large viewing angle to allow viewers to perform their tasks naturally. The display should be able to take advantage of many sources of depth information, such as stereo satellite imagery, synthetically computed stereo pairs, as well as time-stamped streaming video. The display should be capable of matching real-world depth perception without losing general spatial orientation, and include the following characteristics: a) Correct presentation of obstructions and flight hazards, cultural features, and vegetation, especially forested areas; b) nap-of-the-earth terrain and feature rendering based from new Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, (ISR) stereo camera imagery; c) low-altitude weather effects; d) low-altitude Night Vision Goggle (NVG) presentation; e) chin window and cargo hatch viewing of low-altitude and landing zones with changes in depth perception that are correct with dynamic changes in own-aircraft altitude; and f) full correlation with the forward field-of-view (Out-the-Window/windshield) imagery.

PHASE I: Design an innovative visual display that meets the unique requirements of simulation based rotary wing and VSTOL training. Demonstrate conceptual design and the feasibility of the new visual display technology.

PHASE II: Develop, integrate, demonstrate and validate a prototype that addresses the elements listed above.

PHASE III: Commercialize the advanced technology and transition to appropriate training commands.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: The developed technology can be applied in commercial rotary-wing flight simulators as well as military rotary-wing flight simulators.

REFERENCES:
1. Ephanov A. & Coleman C. (2006). Virtual Texture: A Large Area Raster Resource for the GPU. Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC). Retrieved from http://modsim.org/devrim_extras/2006IITSEC_VTPaper_2.pdf

2. Tsai, F. & Lin, H. -C. (2007). "Polygon-based texture mapping for cyber city 3D building models." International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 21 (9), 965-981

3. Nayak, S. "ISPRS TC IV: Geo-databases and Digital Mapping - Trends and Challenges." ISPRS VOL 10, 18-20. http://www.isprs.org/publications/highlights/highlights0605/13HL0605Society.pdf

4. Strachan, I.W. (2001). Motion Cueing in the Real World and in Simulators: Principles and Practice. Janes Simulation and Training Systems. pp. 149-175

KEYWORDS: helicopter training; rotary wing training; VSTOL; Systems; Visual Simulation; chin Windows

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

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