Humanizing Automation: Building Trust and Enhancing Safety through Eye Tracking in Aviation

The Human-Centric AI Podcast

What role can eye tracking play in building trust between pilots and the aircraft they fly? Can it help improve flight safety, or help train the next generation of pilots?
These are the questions tackled in today's episode featuring Karl Tschurtschenthaler and Simon Schwerd both from the Institute of Flight Systems. Karl studied Biomedical Engineering and received his Master of Science degree in 2018. Afterward, he worked as a research engineer in the field of numerical modeling and has been working as a research associate and Ph.D. student at the Institute of Flight Systems since October 2020. His research objective is Pilot Activity Recognition using probabilistic graphical models based on real-time data (eye tracking and psychophysiological sensors). Simon studied engineering at the Technical University of Munich with a bachelor's degree and master's degree in mechanical engineering. At the Institute of Flight Systems, he developed future cockpit concepts for military aircrafts and is pursuing his PhD in the estimation of Situation Awareness based on pilot monitoring via eye-tracking. His general research interests include Operator & Pilot Assistance, Adaptive Automation and Human-Automation-Integration.

Simon and Karl talked all about their work with eye tracking in aviation, including cooperative automation and human-automation-interaction in aircraft cockpits. Listen in to learn more.
Links of interest:

• The Institute of Flight Systems: https://www.unibw.de/ifs-en
• Smart Eye pilot training eye tracking: https://smarteye.se/solutions/behavioral-research/aviation-aerospace/