Humans are at the heart of air traffic management. They are responsible for keeping our skies safe, and ensuring traffic continues to flow safely and efficiently. Despite rapid advancements in technology that support Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs) in managing more aircraft, the role of the human as the decision maker has not changed.
Research has repeatedly demonstrated that in all safety-critical industries like ours, people are at the forefront of ensuring safety, service and resilience. So it’s crucial that we understand how our colleagues are managing their workload, particularly during increasingly busy times.
Eye Tracking Project demonstration from a recent event
The Human Factors team at NATS specialises in understanding how people behave and interact both with other people and with technology. Our team specifically looks at how the human performance of our ATCOs is affected by various scenarios. We currently do this by carrying out quarterly Workload and Situation Awareness surveys. These surveys help us obtain important information about workload management and give our General Managers an early view of any issues that could arise in the future, allowing them to make early intervention.
We’re also working on new projects to better explore different ways of measuring human performance outside of the surveys. One of the projects we’re investigating is collecting data from eye tracking. This method of data collection is something I am really interested in, so much so that alongside leading this project, I’m currently doing my PhD in it at the University of Southampton.
The Human Factors Eye Tracking Team
Eye tracking is used in many industries to study exactly where people look, the frequency and for how long. Paired with system data, this can highlight busy hotspots in our airspace, system usability issues, or where a trainee controller may need to further develop their visual scan. Used in real-time, it is possible that this visual scan can be measured to give an indication of situation awareness. Pupillometry is the study of pupil size which is associated with stress or workload. This could provide a real time measure that our controllers are working within their capacity and provide an early indication of when they will need a rest.
When we first established this project, we were collecting the data with eye tracking glasses that need to be worn and individually calibrated. We have used this for many years to help inform training and identify possible improvements to workspaces. However, technology has now reached a level of maturity where we are able to move away from the glasses and towards a less intrusive eye tracking method in the form of a desk mounted tracker that uses infrared cameras.
A colleague using the Eye Tracking project demonstration.
In this next phase of our eye tracking project, the desk mounted tracker allows us to have more flexibility and scale over collecting this important data. This is essential as the more we can collect, the more accurate our sampling will be. It will enable us to account for the many variables at play in a live operation including different traffic scenarios, weather conditions, lighting and individual differences such as experience and controlling technique.
We hope to move the eye tracking project into live trials in the future, working with volunteer controllers at our centres. The data we collect from them will give us a better understanding of exactly what is causing potential strain, whether that’s a bad weather front, peak traffic times or other factors, to inform decisions on what we need to invest further in, such as more in-depth training or in military-controlled areas for example. This, on top of our situational and workplace surveys, will give us more of a holistic overview of what’s working and where we might want to implement changes.
Further down the line, we will be running a similar project to eye tracking but monitoring heart rate data instead, which we hope will help us to further understand the pressures being faced by our controllers to mitigate for a safer, and more resilient working environment.
Comments
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24.11.2024
16:01
Bert Hayes
As an ex Heathrow controller and trainer, one of the most important lessons when training students on radar was for them to continually scan and not to lock in on a particular area.
Failure to do that resulted in being “bitten” by a situation which could be safety critical. That was between 1974 and 1990, my time at Heathrow and still relevant today.