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Small lightweight device visually superimposes visual-sensitivity and response contours on displays and instrument panels. Optical system provides 45 deg arc/diameter field of view; however, special wide-angle optics can be substituted without significant size or weight penalty.
Factors were examined which determine the amount of time delay acceptable in the visual feedback loop in flight simulators. Acceptable time delays are defined as delays which significantly affect neither the results nor the manner in which the subject 'flies' the simulator. The subject tracked a target aircraft as it oscillated sinusoidally in a vertical plane only. The pursuing aircraft was permitted five degrees of freedom. Time delays of from 0.047 to 0.297 second were inserted in the visual feedback loop. A side task was employed to maintain the workload constant and to insure that the pilot was fully occupied during the experiment. Tracking results were obtained for 17 aircraft configurations having different longitudinal short-period characteristics. Results show a positive correlation between improved handling qualities and a longer acceptable time delay.
Preliminary tests and evaluation are presented of pilot performance during landing (flight paths) using computer generated images (video tapes). Psychophysiological factors affecting pilot visual perception were measured. A turning flight maneuver (pitch and roll) was specifically studied using a training device, and the scaling laws involved were determined. Also presented are medical studies (abstracts) on human response to gravity variations without visual cues, acceleration stimuli effects on the semicircular canals, and neurons affecting eye movements, and vestibular tests.
The calligraphic chromatic projector described was developed to improve the perceived realism of visual scene simulation ('out-the-window visuals'). The optical arrangement of the projector is illustrated and discussed. The device permits drawing 2000 vectors in as many as 500 colors, all above critical flicker frequencies, and use of high scene resolution and brightness at an acceptable level to the pilot, with the maximum system capabilities of 1000 lines and 1000 fL. The device for generating the colors is discussed, along with an experiment conducted to demonstrate potential improvements in performance and pilot opinion. Current research work and future research plans are noted.
Investigations for the improvement of flight simulators are reported. Topics include: visual cues in landing, comparison of linear and nonlinear washout filters using a model of the vestibular system, and visual vestibular interactions (yaw axis). An abstract is given for a thesis on the applications of human dynamic orientation models to motion simulation.
A computer-controlled binocular vision testing device has been developed as one part of a system designed for NASA to test the vision of astronauts during spaceflight. The device, called the Mark III Haploscope, utilizes semi-automated psychophysical test procedures to measure visual acuity, stereopsis, phorias, fixation disparity and accommodation/convergence relationships. All tests are self-administered, yield quantitative data and may be used repeatedly without subject memorization. Future applications of this programmable, compact device include its use as a clinical instrument to perform routine eye examinations or vision screening, and as a research tool to examine the effects of environment or work-cycle upon visual function.
Subjects monitored a visual display for occasional increments in the horizontal movement of a bar of light. When the display was viewed without head restraint, detection probability was directly related to the amplitude of the increments in movement which constituted critical signals and inversely related to background event rate (the frequency of neutral events in which critical signals were embedded). When positioning of the head was restrained by a headrest, the detectability of low-amplitude signals was enhanced considerably and the influence of background event rate was attenuated. The results are considered as providing further support for the importance of sense mode coupling in visual monitoring.
Emission from the J = 1-0 transition of carbon monoxide has been mapped over an area of 40 by 55 arcmin in cloud L134, and visual extinctions over the entire cloud have been obtained by means of star counts. Line intensities of at least 2 K are observable down to an extinction level of about one magnitude. From observations of the J = 1-0 transition of the (C-13)O isotopic species at 18 locations in the cloud, a linear correlation is found between the local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) column densities of (C-13)O and magnitudes of visual extinction.
Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) were recorded to sequences of flashes delivered to the right and left visual fields while subjects responded promptly to designated stimuli in one field at a time (focused attention), in both fields at once (divided attention), or to neither field (passive). Three stimulus schedules were used: the first was a replication of a previous study (Eason, Harter, and White, 1969) where left- and right-field flashes were delivered quasi-independently, while in the other two the flashes were delivered to the two fields in random order (Bernoulli sequence). VEPs to attended-field stimuli were enhanced at both occipital (O2) and central (Cz) recording sites under all stimulus sequences, but different components were affected at the two scalp sites. It was suggested that the VEP at O2 may reflect modality-specific processing events, while the response at Cz, like its auditory homologue, may index more general aspects of selective attention.
A television/model board system is described which provides a means of generating a six-degree-of-freedom visual out-the-window scene for the pilot of a simulated aircraft. The hardware and its performance of capability for meeting the visual requirements for a wide range of simulation studies are detailed. Also included is a description of the computer software required for the system. An example of software implementation in a real-time computer program is provided.
The effect of time delay was determined in the visual and motion cues in a flight simulator on pilot performance in tracking a target aircraft that was oscillating sinusoidally in altitude only. An audio side task was used to assure the subject was fully occupied at all times. The results indicate that, within the test grid employed, about the same acceptable time delay (250 msec) was obtained for a single aircraft (fighter type) by each of two subjects for both fixed-base and motion-base conditions. Acceptable time delay is defined as the largest amount of delay that can be inserted simultaneously into the visual and motion cues before performance degradation occurs. A statistical analysis of the data was made to establish this value of time delay. Audio side task provided quantitative data that documented the subject's work level.
A visual investigation of turbulence in stagnation flow around a circular cylinder was carried out in order to gain a physical insight into the model advocated by the corticity-amplification theory. Motion pictures were taken from three different viewpoints, and a frame by frame examination of selected movie strips was conducted. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of the flow events focused on tracing the temporal and spatial evolution of a cross-vortex tube outlined by the entrained smoke filaments. The visualization supplied evidence verifying: (1) the selective stretching of cross-vortex tubes which is responsible for the amplification of cross vorticity and, hence, of streamwise turbulence; (2) the streamwise tilting of stretched cross-vortex tubes; (3) the existence of a coherent array of vortices near the stagnation zone; (4) the interaction of the amplified vorticity with the body laminar boundary layer; and, (5) the growth of a turbulent boundary layer.
A self-synchronizing schlieren flow visualization technique has been developed to study unsteady periodic flows which may result from aeroelastic effects. The technique allows the experimentalist to stroboscopically 'freeze' the streak line pattern at any phase in one period of the motion by driving the schlieren light source with an electronically processed synchronizing signal that is derived by measuring a periodic flow variable with a convenient sensor. Results for the visualization of the near-wake behind an oscillating airfoil at low speeds which show an ordered series of discrete vortices and a curious short-wave-length wake disturbance are examined. Results are also presented for edge tone sound generation.
Application of star count techniques to the determination of visual extinctions in compact, fairly high-extinction dark nebulae is discussed. Particular attention is devoted to the determination of visual extinctions for a cloud having a possibly anomalous ratio of total to selective extinction. The techniques discussed are illustrated in application at two colors to four well-known compact dust clouds or Bok globules: Barnard 92, B 133, B 134, and B 335. Minimum masses and lower limits to the central extinction of these objects are presented.
The experiments described in the present paper provided conclusive evidence for the feasibility of achieving reverse transition by several different mechanisms. Turbulent-to-laminar transition in water was visualized by injection of purple and green dyes. Air flows were visualized by colored schlieren photography.
Water tunnel studies were performed to qualitatively define the flow field of the F-15 aircraft. Two lengthened forebodies, one with a modified cross-sectional shape, were tested in addition to the basic forebody. Particular emphasis was placed on defining vortex flows generated at high angles of attack. The flow visualization tests were conducted in the Northrop diagnostic water tunnel using a 1/48-scale model of the F-15. Flow visualization pictures were obtained over an angle-of-attack range to 55 deg and sideslip angles up to 10 deg. The basic aircraft configuration was investigated in detail to determine the vortex flow field development, vortex path, and vortex breakdown characteristics as a function of angle of attack and sideslip. Additional tests showed that the wing upper surface vortex flow fields were sensitive to variations in inlet mass flow ratio and inlet cowl deflection angle. Asymmetries in the vortex systems generated by each of the three forebodies were observed in the water tunnel at zero sideslip and high angles of attack.
A visual study was performed using the low speed smoke wind tunnels with the objective of obtaining a better understanding of the structure of leading edge separation bubbles on airfoils. The location of separation, transition and reattachment for a cylindrical nose constant-thickness airfoil model were obtained from smoke photographs and surface oil flow techniques. These data, together with static pressure distributions along the leading edge and upper surface of the model, produced the influence of Reynolds number, angle of attack, and trailing edge flap angle on the size and characteristics of the bubble. Additional visual insight into the unsteady nature of the separation bubble was provided by high speed 16 mm movies. The 8 mm color movies taken of the surface oil flow supported the findings of the high speed movies and clearly showed the formation of a scalloped spanwise separation line at the higher Reynolds number.
A brief description of the history of the development of the human operator simulator (HOS) model is presented. Features of the HOS micromodels that impact on the obtainment of visual performance data are discussed along with preliminary details on a HOS pilot model designed to predict the results of visual performance workload data obtained through oculometer studies on pilots in real and simulated approaches and landings.