The research of touch screen usability in civil aircraft cockpit.

Journal: PloS one
PMID:

Abstract

With the advancement of touch screen technology, the application of touch screens in civil aircraft cockpits has become increasingly popular. However, further analysis and research are required to fully promote its applications. The paper researched the usability of touch screens in aircraft cockpit considering the operation performance and subjective NASA-TLX workload evaluation, conducted experimental research on three touch gestures: click, drag, and zoom. Additionally, a comparative analysis was conducted on the touch performance under different layouts, positions, touch sizes, dragging direction angles, and zoom multiples. The touch performance indicators include operation time, error rate, operation speed, and workload. The experimental results show that the 21 mm size has the minimum operation time and workload, and 18 mm size has the lowest error rate in the clicking tasks. Additionally, the performance and workload of the captain's layout are better than those of the co-pilot's layout, and the performance of the center console position is best. The operation speed of the dragging tasks is faster when performed at position R3 compared to other positions. The dragging moving angles with better operation speed are 80°-190° and 250°-290°. The operation performance and workload of the zooming tasks vary depending on the zoom multiples. As the multiple increases, the operation time and workload also increase. There is no difference in operation performance or workload between zooming in and zooming out. The paper provides experimental support and suggestions based on human operation and subjective NASA-TLX workload evaluation for the application of touch screens in civil aircraft cockpits.

Authors

  • Xiaoli Wang
    Demonstration Center of Future Product, Beijing Aircraft Technology Research Institute, COMAC, Beijing, China.
  • Wei Guo
    Emergency Department, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
  • Zhenwei Zhong
    Institute of Future Technology Research, Beijing Aircraft Technology Research Institute, COMAC, Beijing, China.
  • Rui Zeng
    Institute of Future Technology Research, Beijing Aircraft Technology Research Institute, COMAC, Beijing, China.
  • Jiong Zhang
    Laboratory of Advanced Theranostic Materials and Technology, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China.
  • Lijing Wang
    School of Aeronautic Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, China.