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Comparison of Cardiac Activity and Subjective Measures During Virtual Reality and Real Aircraft Flight

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Computer Vision, Imaging and Computer Graphics Theory and Applications (VISIGRAPP 2021)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1691))

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Abstract

Pilot training requires significant resources, both material and human. Immersive virtual reality is a good way to reduce costs and get around the lack of resources availability. However, the effectiveness of virtual flight simulation has not yet been fully assessed, in particular, using physiological measures. In this study, 10 pilots performed standard traffic patterns on both real aircraft (DR400) and its virtual simulation (in head-mounted device and motion platform). We used subjective measures through questionnaires of immersion, presence, and ability to control the aircraft, and objective measures using heart rate, and heart rate variability. The results showed that the pilots were able to fully control the aircraft. Points to improve include updating the hardware (better display resolution and hand tracking) and the simulator dynamics for modelling ground effect. During the real experience, the overall heart rate (HR) was higher (+20 bpm on average), and the heart rate variability (HRV) was lower compared to the virtual experience. The flight phases in both virtual and real flights induced similar cardiac responses with more mental efforts during take-off and landing compared to the downwind phase. Overall, our findings indicate that virtual flight reproduces real flight and can be used for pilot training. However, replacing pilot training with exclusively virtual flight hours seems utopian at this point.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Stéphane Juaneda, the safety pilot, for his availability to perform flights and his precious know-how in-flight experimentation. Special thanks to Fabrice Bazelot and Benoît Momier, LFCL mechanics, for their help during the configuration of the experiments. A special thanks to Boris Jost and Alexandre Iche, ISAE-SUPAERO students, for their involvement in this project. Thanks to Guillaume Garrouste for the 3D development of the LFCL environment, and Jérôme Dartigues for building the mechanical part of the VRtigo platform.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ISAE-SUPAERO, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France

    Patrice Labedan, Frédéric Dehais & Vsevolod Peysakhovich

Authors
  1. Patrice Labedan
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  2. Frédéric Dehais
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  3. Vsevolod Peysakhovich
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Correspondence to Patrice Labedan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    A. Augusto de Sousa

  2. Czech Technical University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

    Vlastimil Havran

  3. Mines ParisTech, Paris, France

    Alexis Paljic

  4. Davidson College, Davidson, NC, USA

    Tabitha Peck

  5. French Civil Aviation University (ENAC), Toulouse, France

    Christophe Hurter

  6. Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

    Helen Purchase

  7. University of Catania, Catania, Italy

    Giovanni Maria Farinella

  8. University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Petia Radeva

  9. IRISA, University of Rennes 1, Rennes, France

    Kadi Bouatouch

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Labedan, P., Dehais, F., Peysakhovich, V. (2023). Comparison of Cardiac Activity and Subjective Measures During Virtual Reality and Real Aircraft Flight. In: de Sousa, A.A., et al. Computer Vision, Imaging and Computer Graphics Theory and Applications. VISIGRAPP 2021. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1691. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25477-2_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25477-2_6

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