Mid-air haptics - creating the sensation of touch where there is nothing but thin air.

Despite several industries adopting this exciting technology, it is yet to emerge in either simulated pilot training or real-life flight decks. Full-flight simulators are expensive to manufacture, maintain and operate. Not only that, each simulator is limited to one aircraft type, which is inefficient for the majority of airlines that have several in service.

With a growing trend in touch-screen instrumentation, cockpit displays require the pilot’s attention to be drawn away from their view out of the window. The gesture recognition from mid-air haptics would add another dimension to this existing technology for pilots familiar with using legacy cockpits, complete with traditional instrumentation.

In simulation, Augmented and Virtual Reality technology has added a new aspect to immersive training environments. Combining this with a basic full-motion platform and the addition of tactile feedback via mid-air haptics would allow for an interchange of instrumentation layouts.

Certification criteria from regulatory authorities states that every single audio and visual element of a pilot’s simulation experience must exactly represent a real-life experience. This to the extent that pilots can go from hundreds of hours of simulated training, to being responsible for hundreds of lives on their very first flight.

This study will evaluate whether (FAA Part 60, Level D) certification can be achieved without projectors, without a cockpit and without instrumentation. Likewise, with other simulation products, including lower-level Flight Training Devices and their (level 4/5/6) certification standards.

Finally, by exploring concepts within the Automotive sector, this paper presents how flight

deck design could evolve by adopting this technology. If pilot testimony suggests that they can adapt to virtual objects, then can this replace physical controls?