There has been a rapid development in photo-based generated imagery for flight simulators without an accompanying development of knowledge, test, and acceptance criteria. Trainer design engineers have developed visual displays based on years of previous experience rather than upon aircrew visual psychophysical requirements. The criterion for the merit of a display has relied heavily on the acceptance of the visual system by a few experienced aviators and program managers. Visual scientists and psychophysicists have played a minor role in deciding how and what visual information must be displayed in a simulator to ensure that the scene provides the proper cues to accomplish the training tasks.

This paper presents a review of several Navy performance specifications for visual flight simulators and proposes a psychophysical scaling test and acceptance approach for visual cue requirements. The move to photo-based systems with increased texturing fulfills part of the requirement for visual scene cues. However, the visual systems must not only generate the proper number of leaves on trees, but they must give the aircrew sufficient dynamic visual cues. The aircrew should receive the same: psychophysical cues that are needed in actual aircraft flights. These include, for example, the same depth cues, vection, velocity cues, perceptual experience, and closure cues as experienced in flight operations. Highly reliable direct psychophysical measurement techniques are proposed as part of the test and acceptance protocol for such visual flight simulators.