-Caveat Lector-
Were all those violent "computer games" just "basic training" for future
draftees?.
NASA To Test 'Synthetic Vision'
By SONJA BARISIC
.c The Associated Press
HAMPTON, Va. (AP) - NASA researchers are planning their first test of a
high-tech cockpit display designed to give commercial pilots a clear, virtual
reality view even when the weather is bad.
The display works like a detailed, three-dimensional video game, showing
mountains, runways and other landscape features as the plane approaches.
Researchers call it ``synthetic vision'' and say it could dramatically cut
the number of accidents caused by poor visibility.
``I am extremely confident that in the future, this will be the way the world
will fly,'' said Mike Lewis, director of the nation's Aviation Safety
Program, led by NASA's Langley Research Center.
He predicted synthetic vision could be on commercial planes in five years.
Visibility-induced errors account for more than 30 percent of fatal air
accidents. A pilot who can't see landmarks can become disoriented and make
deadly mistakes.
Some have theorized that's what happened when John F. Kennedy Jr. crashed
this summer when he was trying to land his plane at night on Martha's
Vineyard.
On Monday, NASA plans to have a pilot fly a Convair twin-propeller research
plane from Hampton to Asheville, N.C., using a 3-D map on a cockpit screen.
The map was built from a database compiled from images taken by a survey
aircraft, Lewis said. It cost $50,000 to map the test flight route alone.
NASA plans to develop a more comprehensive database using radar on an
upcoming space shuttle mission that will map 80 percent of the world's land
surface for the Defense Department's National Imagery and Mapping Agency.
NASA expects to spend roughly $75 million over five years to develop
synthetic vision, with private companies kicking in an additional $20 million
to $30 million, Lewis said.
Ultimately, he said, commercial and private pilots may wear virtual-reality
goggles that will keep the display in front of their eyes at all times.
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