FOCUS: An Intelligent Startle Management Assistant for Maximizing Pilot Resilience

Alexandre Duchevet, Dong-Bach Vo, Vincent Peyruqueou, Théo De-La-Hogue, Jérémie Garcia, Mickaël Causse, Jean-Paul Imbert

2024

Abstract

On the flight deck, the startle effect is triggered by sudden, unexpected and possibly threatening events such as bird strikes or system failures. It is a very rapid protective and defensive reaction that can lead to a partial or total incapacitation of pilots with tragic consequences. With Single Pilot and Reduced Crew operations likely being implemented in the future, the single pilot will be forced to face and handle the startle effect alone in the cockpit. We designed and developed FOCUS (Flight Operational Companion for Unexpected Situations), an intelligent assistant designed to help single pilots overcome the startle effect. FOCUS supports pilots in regulating their stress and maintaining an adequate situational awareness. The assistant guides them to breathe at a specific pace thanks to ambient light brightness variation of the cockpit and draws their attention towards potentially unseen information. To test and improve its design, we evaluated FOCUS in an A320 simulator with five qualified pilots. In these trials, FOCUS was positively welcomed by pilots as they perceived it as a valuable addition to the cockpit. These evaluations will guide further iterations of FOCUS design and support the understanding of human-AI teaming in the cockpit in subsequent studies.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Duchevet A., Vo D., Peyruqueou V., De-La-Hogue T., Garcia J., Causse M. and Imbert J. (2024). FOCUS: An Intelligent Startle Management Assistant for Maximizing Pilot Resilience. In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Cognitive Aircraft Systems - Volume 1: ICCAS; ISBN 978-989-758-724-5, SciTePress, pages 5-12. DOI: 10.5220/0012915600004562

in Bibtex Style

@conference{iccas24,
author={Alexandre Duchevet and Dong-Bach Vo and Vincent Peyruqueou and Théo De-La-Hogue and Jérémie Garcia and Mickaël Causse and Jean-Paul Imbert},
title={FOCUS: An Intelligent Startle Management Assistant for Maximizing Pilot Resilience},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Cognitive Aircraft Systems - Volume 1: ICCAS},
year={2024},
pages={5-12},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0012915600004562},
isbn={978-989-758-724-5},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Cognitive Aircraft Systems - Volume 1: ICCAS
TI - FOCUS: An Intelligent Startle Management Assistant for Maximizing Pilot Resilience
SN - 978-989-758-724-5
AU - Duchevet A.
AU - Vo D.
AU - Peyruqueou V.
AU - De-La-Hogue T.
AU - Garcia J.
AU - Causse M.
AU - Imbert J.
PY - 2024
SP - 5
EP - 12
DO - 10.5220/0012915600004562
PB - SciTePress