How to put the real world into a 3D aircraft display

For the past two decades perspective displays (3D-displays) have been of interest as more or less substitutes for the 2D map displays in aircraft of today. Despite all research efforts as well as activities from the industry in this area the impact on real design has been limited: the lack of valuable depth cues in display prototypes used for demonstrations or research activities has been obvious. In this paper the nine, perceptual object-centered depth-cues summarized by Wickens (1992), were used as a base for further implementation oriented discussions. The overall conclusion from this analysis was that, with few exceptions, these cues are possible to implement and that this implementation has the potential to bring 3D-displays to the marketplace. This will give a substantial contribution to situational awareness and, thereby, to flight safety