Evaluation of two pilot self-separation displays using conflict situation measurements

In future airspace environments, there is a need for on-board self-separation interfaces that support pilots in the resolution and prevention of aircraft conflict situations. Current designs offer pilots explicit evasive maneuvers, but it is questionable whether such a design approach promotes conflict Situation Awareness (SA) and task-independent support. As an alternative, an ecological display was designed to promote pilot SA. This display maps functional overlays on the Navigation Display (ND) that show pilots how their manoeuvring is constrained by own aircraft performance and by limits imposed by surrounding traffic. This paper discusses a comparison experiment between the ecological display and a viable design alternative using explicit resolution commands. The experiment was aimed at measuring the pilot´s awareness of the conflict situation using a situation-centered approach. Results confirm that the ecological display improves SA, but did not indicate significant differences in safety and performance measurements.