Crosschecking through verbal reports under spatial disorientation scenarios: Evidence from eye tracking metrics

Spatial disorientation (SD) can lead to serious aviation accidents. To deal with this predicament, verbal reports (VR), a procedure that requires pilots to verbalize flight information during SD situations, are being carried out in the Republic of Korea Air Force. However, the impact of VR execution on visual attention under SD situations remains to be unexplored. Thus, the purpose of this study is to systematically and objectively analyze the effect of VR execution on pilot's visual attention across different SD illusion types by utilizing eye-tracking measures. The experiment was conducted on 25 male Air Force fighter pilots (14 in the VR group and 11 in the non-VR group) using a flight simulator and eye-tracking device. VR execution and areas of interest (AOIs) served as the independent variables while, eye-tracking metrics and a 7-point perceived attentional load scale served as the dependent variables. The pilots performed the flight task experiencing six types of illusion provoking SD scenarios in a single flight profile (15 min). Findings showed that the gaze distribution in the VR group tended to focus less on areas outside the AOIs than in the non-VR group in all SD scenarios. In addition, the fixation frequency in attitude related AOI on the head-up display for the Coriolis, false horizon, and graveyard spin illusions was significantly higher for the VR group than the non-VR group. On the other hand, there were no significant differences in terms of the perceived attentional load between VR and non-VR group. These suggest that VR execution can be recommended as a means to improve visual attention and to counteract SD effects.