ABSTRACT
Head-Mounted Displays (HMD)* are personal information-viewing devices that can provide information in a way that no other display can. While they can be used as hands-off information sources, the displayed video can also be made reactive to head and body movements, replicating the way we view, navigate through, and explore the world. This unique capability lends itself to applications such as Virtual Reality for creating artificial environments,1 to medical visualization as an aid in surgical procedures, 2,3 to military vehicles for viewing sensor imagery,4 to airborne workstation applications reducing size, weight, and power over conventional displays,5 to aircraft simulation and training,6-8 and (central to this chapter) for fixed and rotary wing avionics display applications.9,10
In some applications, such as the medical and soldier’s displays in Figure 5.1, the HMD is used solely as a hands-off information source. To truly reap the benefits of the HMD as part of an avionics application, however, it must be part of a Visually Coupled System (or VCS) that includes the HMD, a head position tracker, and a graphics engine or video source.11,12 As the pilot turns his/her head, the tracker relays the orientation data to the mission computer, which updates the displayed information accordingly. This gives the pilot a myriad of real-time data that is linked to head orientation. In a fixed-wing fighter, a missile’s sensor can be slaved to the pilot’s head line-of-sight, allowing the pilot to designate targets away from the forward line-of-sight of the aircraft. In a helicopter, the pilot can point sensors such as forwardlooking infrared (FLIR)** and fly at night.
