NASA is developing augmented reality headset

Research Center at NASA Langley, Virginia, is working to create augmented reality headset for commercial pilots. This development is designed to reduce the number of accidents that occur due to bad weather and too busy airports. NASA announced the results and started to look for a company that can take over the manufacture and sale headset, which has no official name.

Augmented Reality (DR) is that the computer generated images are projected onto the glass through which the user is looking at their surroundings. Thus, the user can see how the real world, and projected images, which complement the real objects. DR device for commercial pilots, for example, can display the runway and other aircraft, even if the runway shrouded mist. After touching the strip, it can display its midline, and the adjacent lane. Since most commercial aircraft accidents occur during landing, takeoff and taxiing after landing, we focused on the tools designed to help pilots better to see the surroundings.

It serves this purpose Headset DR. It is worn on the head and changes the fact that the pilot sees one of his eyes. In this device is built gyroscopes and sensors that read information from the pieces of paper placed on the walls of the cabin for orientation in space and the correct interpretation of the direction in which the pilot is looking. In addition, it includes speech recognition software, which allows the pilot to control the system via voice commands.

This system is in some ways similar to the DR headsets that use pilots of military aircraft and helicopters. All technologies used in the headset is not new, and all information provided by the pilot is now available to pilots today. The only difference is that the headset will allow pilots to keep the look at the place of destination and not to turn away to study maps or reading electronic devices.

This headset DR is part of a larger project by NASA to improve visualization for pilots, called Synthetic Vision. Its purpose is to image the location of augmented reality in the cockpit windshield.