Spatial Disorientation Research on the Dynamic Environmental Simulator (DES)

Abstract

Spatial Disorientation (SD) is a serious human factors problem in both the Air Force and Navy. Over 70 Class A mishaps involving nearly total loss of an aircraft or death of the pilot have been attributed to SD in the U.S. Air Force alone since 1980. Many of these SD related fatalities involve low-level turning mishaps in which the pilot is moving his head and the aircraft is at greater than 1G. The G excess illusion, and altered perception of one's attitude when G 1, is a potential player in many of these low-level turning mishaps. The purpose of this study was to assess the potential of the Dynamic Environment Simulators, a 20 ft radius, dual-gimballed, human centrifuge to generate vestibular related SD illusions, especially, the G-excess illusion.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 1990
Accession Number
ADA241203

Entities

People

  • William B. Albery

Organizations

  • Armstrong Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Aerospace Medicine
  • Air Force
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Aircrafts
  • Bioengineering
  • Biological Sciences
  • Biomedical Research
  • Centrifuges
  • Computers
  • Government Procurement
  • Governments
  • Neurobehavioral Manifestations
  • Perception
  • Simulators
  • Standards
  • Technical Information Centers

Readers

  • Aviation Safety Risk Assessment.
  • Brain and Cognitive Science; Experimental Psychology; Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Robotics and Automation.