Frames of Reference for Electronic Map Displays

This study sought to examine frame of reference for electronic map displays and determine its effect on pilot local guidance ability and global situation awareness (GSA) during low altitude rotorcraft flights. It was hypothesized that the egocentric viewpoint would support superior local guidance ability, the exocentric viewpoint would facilitate better GSA, and the Situation Awareness Rating Technique (SART) would not be a good measure of GSA. Eighteen pilots flew simulated missions on six possible paths, with three paths flown at 200 feet and three paths flown at 1000 feet. All participants flew both a low altitude and a high altitude scenario with each of three display viewpoints (egocentric, exocentric, 2D), for a total of six missions. Results revealed that the forward field of view present in the simulation appears to mute the effect of display type on local guidance ability such that all three of the viewpoints evaluated provided equivalent navigation performance. The results for the level of GSA achieved revealed that the egocentric viewpoint suffered with regards to facilitating GSA, but no differences were revealed between the exocentric and 2D viewpoints. Furthermore, the GSA results suggested that the SART may not be a good measure of global situation awareness. Results are discussed in terms of map display design for rotorcraft cockpits.