Quantitative measuring method of pilots' attention allocation

Subjects finished three different flight simulation tasks in a simulator in the laboratory. Eye movement data was recorded with eye tracking system. Visual information sources were divided into two AOIs (area of interest) : IP (instrument panel) AOI and OV (out view) AOI. The three eye movement indices were analyzed and compared in the two AOIs. Results show that there are different scanning patterns through three tasks, and that there are more fixation points, longer dwell time and longer average fixation duration in OV AOI than that inside. It indicates that fighter pilots acquire information mostly from the OV in VFR (visual flight rules) condition and most of their visual attention is allocated to the outside world. Eye movement indices can objectively uncover the rules of pilots attention allocation and evaluate their workload. The research will be beneficial to cockpit display design of the fighter aircraft and pilots training.