Readability of Self-Illuminated Signs in a Smoke-Obscured Environment,

Abstract

This study investigates the ability of people with normal distant visual acuity to identify self-illuminated emergency signs in a smoke-obscured environment. The results indicate that signs whose background luminance meets or exceeds the requirements of Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) 25.812 are readable under favorable conditions when the total optical density of the smoke between the observer and the signs ranges between 3.00 and 3.55. Substantial increases in character sizes in the signs produce only moderate improvement in readability. Some limitations on the practical application of these data to predicting sign visibility in adverse conditions are discussed. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 1979
Accession Number
ADA081260

Entities

People

  • D. L. Lowrey
  • J. D. Garner
  • J. G. Blethrow
  • P. G. Rasmussen

Organizations

  • Federal Aviation Administration

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Aviation Medicine
  • Aviation Safety
  • Base Lines
  • Commercial Aircraft
  • Detectors
  • Emergencies
  • Light Sources
  • Line Of Sight
  • Luminance
  • Measurement
  • Metric System
  • Particle Size
  • Personality
  • Refractive Index
  • Standards
  • Visual Acuity

Readers

  • Educational Psychology
  • Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).
  • Organizational Psychology.