Case MVRsimulation: Using Eye Tracking for Pilot Performance Review
MVRsimulation is enriching pilot simulator training by using Varjo’s virtual and mixed reality headsets with built-in eye tracking. The result? Better learning outcomes.
In live pilot training exercises, the instructor can only assess the training mission based on its outcome. A lot of the subtle actions and reactions of the trainee can remain in the dark. For example – is the pilot's attention where needed during critical nanoseconds?
Virtual and mixed reality simulator training with integrated eye tracking allows the instructor to review the trainee’s real-time performance in a highly accurate way. To expand on that capability, Varjo’s partner MVRsimulation has integrated a new, real-time eye tracking visualization capability for their simulators. The real-time visualization gives instructors the ability to review the pilot’s eye-gaze and head movement throughout air-to-air and air-to-ground simulated training exercises.
Varjo’s proprietary eye tracking at 200 Hz can precisely capture even the smallest eye movement from training in VR and XR environments. Combined with MVRsimulations’s Virtual Reality Scene Generator version 6.6 software, instructors and trainees can depict each eye gaze as a color-coded 3D cone.
“With Varjo, pilots get the most natural and fully immersive training ever experienced. Bringing together the unique resolution and FOV of the Varjo headset with our software offers a combined capability that is – we believe – unique to the current simulator training space.”
– Bert Haselden, Mixed-Reality Lead, MVRsimulation
Enriching pilot training without adding to the cognitive burden
With Varjo and MVRsimulation, a normally subjective process turns into a quantitative review, enabling instructor and trainee to analyse where the pilot’s head and eye movement were during an exercise. This helps understand where the pilot’s attention was, what leads to each outcome, identify areas for improvement, and track pilot progress throughout the training cycle.
What’s best, pilot training can be enriched without adding to the trainee’s cognitive burden. This can help achieve better learning outcomes and improved live missions down the line.
“The realistic simulation of flight scenarios in virtual and mixed reality is not science fiction. It’s here today with Varjo devices, already producing tangible value for pilot training.” – Urho Konttori, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Varjo
To deep dive into the possibilities that VR and XR technology can bring to pilot training and flight simulation, download our complimentary in-depth e-book guide.
