Implementation of touchscreen technology on the flight deck has already been announced by multiple aircraft manufacturers. However, a number of unsolved challenges still stand in the way of large scale implementation. One of these challenges comes from using touchscreens as input
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Implementation of touchscreen technology on the flight deck has already been announced by multiple aircraft manufacturers. However, a number of unsolved challenges still stand in the way of large scale implementation. One of these challenges comes from using touchscreens as input device in a highly dynamic and turbulent environment. Effects from BioDynamic FeedThrough (BDFT) may significantly complicate any task that is to be performed on a touch sensitive cockpit display, and research is lacking.
Research was therefore performed in the SIMONA Research Simulator, in which 16 participants conducted way-point dragging tasks on multiple displays whilst being perturbed by motion disturbances. Results showed an increase in finger loss of contact with the screens for motion tasks and indicated that effects of BDFT predominantly manifest when motion disturbances act in the direction of touchscreen control inputs. Finally, a BDFT model was proposed. Parameters were fitted onto this model for the different motion conditions. Validation of this model shows that it can account for 70% of the BDFT dynamics.
