Non-invasive Physiological Biomarkers of Cognitive Fatigue in a Virtual Reality Simulated, Rotary-Wing Flight Environment
Abstract
Timely and accurate monitoring of aviator cognitive workload offers a means to identify and mitigate aviation mishaps. This study examined a proof-of-concept for a non-invasive, multi-modal platform to quantify the relationship between physiological indicators of pilot fatigue and operational performance in simulated flight tasks. Seven participants (two females) varying from no piloting experience to a commercially rated pilots, completed a 90-min repetitive flight traffic pattern. The psychomotor vigilance task (PVT), flight performance data, and thirteen physiological sensing modalities monitored fatigue and performance. Post-flight PVT reaction times were longer as compared to pre-flight baselines. Further, vocal biomarkers analyses support the existence of a coupling between fine motor aspects of speech production and flight performance in more experienced aviators. These preliminary results show the potential for speech to be used to predict real-time flight performance. In future work, addition sensing modalities (e.g., eye tracking, electrocardiogram, electrodermal activity, and torso accelerometry) are to be included into the analysis.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 07, 2021
- Accession Number
- AD1141503
Entities
People
- Christopher J Smalt
- Daryush Mehta
- Gregory Ciccarelli
- Harvey Edwards
- Hayley Reynolds
- Hrishikesh M. Rao
- Kara Cave
- Thomas F. Quatieri
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- United States Army Aeromedical Research Lab