Test rides on the six-axis simulator are meant to simulate the flight of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in order to help NASA study turbulence on planned air taxi services in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and elsewhere in the U.S. The data will be shared with AAM industry partners to help them develop passenger-friendly designs.

The space agency is working with several major air taxi developers through its advanced air mobility (AAM) mission, including Archer Aviation, Joby Aviation, and Boeing eVTOL arm Wisk Aero, to research the experience and safety of riders as well as onlookers on the ground.

“The experiments in the ride quality lab will inform the advanced air mobility community about the acceptability of the motions these aircraft could make, so the general public is more likely to adopt the new technology,” said NASA test pilot Wayne Ringelberg.

Ringelberg served as the passenger for the comfort experiment. The pilot recently flew a series of test rides on the new simulator at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, to help prepare it for trials with actual test subjects.

Ringelberg lifted off from a NASA-designed conceptual vertiport atop a downtown San Francisco parking garage, flying over the city to another virtual takeoff and landing site on top of a skyscraper. Sitting in a seat mounted on a six-axis platform that recreates the full range of motion of an air taxi ride, he wore headphones to simulate noise and VR goggles that gave him a view of the cockpit and the city below.

Following the flights, Ringelberg reported to NASA on how realistic and reliable the simulator’s movement and audiovisual cues were.

“This project is leveraging our research and test pilot aircrew with vertical lift experience to validate the safety and accuracy of the lab in preparation for test subject evaluations,” he said.

With Ringelberg’s work finished, the agency will soon begin testing with human subjects. They will similarly wear a VR headset and headphones, flying the same route as the NASA test pilot. During the flight, subjects will press a button to indicate discomfort.

The space agency will analyze those responses and try to match them to the user’s heart rate, breathing rate, and experience of motion or audiovisual stimulus. It will make that data available to air taxi manufacturers and other industry stakeholders to shape flight paths through cities, identify takeoff and landing spots, and guide air taxi design elements like window size and seat placement.

The air taxi simulator is the key component of NASA’s rider quality lab, but that project is itself only a tiny piece of the agency’s AAM mission.

It began using the term AAM in 2020 and has since worked with stakeholders across the industry on a wide range of projects. The initiative focuses on everything from air taxi safety and ride quality to travel time, automation, and infrastructure such as vertiports, preparing industries including healthcare, emergency response, and cargo delivery for the introduction of the novel aircraft.

Within the program is the Advanced Air Vehicles Program (AAVP), which focuses on innovative aircraft designs such as Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology (RVLT). In addition to passenger comfort, NASA under the RVLT umbrella has studied air taxi batteries, noise, and traffic, particularly around busy airports like Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (KDFW).

Urban air traffic management and the integration of eVTOL designs into air traffic control operations and the national airspace system is a major part of the space agency’s mission. It aims to complete its research in time for the U.S. to develop a robust air taxi industry by the end of the decade.

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This collaboration will see CommuteAir pilots utilizing VTR’s FlightDeckToGo system to gain an immersive and realistic training experience. The initial focus will be on Embraer ERJ-145 ground-based procedural flows, with potential expansion to cover other non-normal and emergency scenarios in the future.

“We look forward to expanding our rapidly growing customer base with a leader in the U.S. regional airline market. CommuteAir is fully committed to providing a world-class training experience for their pilots, and we are excited to be their partner in the VR space,” said Captain Evey Cormican, VTR’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer, in a press release.

• READ MORE: Virtual Reality in Flight Training: More Than a Fad

The airline says that VR headsets will be issued to new pilots during the first several weeks of their initial training, allowing them to practice during ground training at the location of their choice. VR will supplement CommuteAir’s current use of Graphical Flight Simulation (GFS).

According to a press release, CommuteAir spent over two years evaluating VR solutions and has been actively integrating VR into its pilot training infrastructure for the past year. This partnership paves the way for hundreds of new and current CommuteAir aviators to use VR training over the next two years, starting with basic flight deck procedures.

“VTR’s virtual reality headsets and handsets will enhance our current training program for the more than 200 pilots we’re hiring annually by enabling them to familiarize themselves with our aircraft’s cockpit using a realistic simulation. CommuteAir trainees will practice flight deck orientation, flows, and procedures with the assistance of the VTR’s virtual instructor and eye-tracking features,” Lance Lau, the airline’s Director of Flight Crew Training, added.

VTR was founded by pilots with ‘extensive safety and training backgrounds.’ Since its inception in 2017, the company has partnered with a handful of airlines and flight schools to deliver virtual reality to pilot training programs, including Atlas Air and JetBlue.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AirlineGeeks.com.

The post Visionary Training Resources, CommuteAir Partner to Bring VR to Pilot Training appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

In December, I offered a window into how virtual reality was being implemented in flight training and suggested it could be an essential tool in lowering training costs for the next generation of pilots. I couldn’t anticipate the overwhelming interest that I’d receive from readers eager to learn more. It has only expanded my perspective on how critical this technology will be in training moving forward. Since then, two things have caught my attention that merit an update. In February, Chris Koomen, a virtual reality engineer and specialist at Air France–KLM Airlines Group, posted this viral walkaround video that his department produced. A pilot in training would be able to use the Oculus Quest 2 for business headset goggles and module for initial training on the 787.

How KLM Airlines Uses VR Training for Pilots

I reached out to Chris to understand how VR is being used at an airline level to train pilots. Koomen says he began working with virtual reality many years ago, and his effort caught the attention of his company, who asked him to help implement it for their training departments once they saw the potential. Presently, he creates 360-degree videos and photos, like the one he posts, and manages all the devices there.

In the video, he said he was actually in an office wearing the VR headset with the pre-defined proprietary content built-in for the pilots to use. Pilots can take the headset home to practice on their own, or to complete flight-deck familiarization or walkarounds—a much more efficient process.

How much more efficient? 

“For the Embraer flight deck training—normally they did a startup procedure in the cockpit for the first time within one hour or so,” Koomen said. “Now, they do it in 15 minutes because they already know the distances, how to start it up, and all those procedures are practiced in the headset.”

He said the airline has built a variety of scenarios and environments that the pilots can also access via the internet, such as 360-degree videos of a crew completing a landing, which allows the viewer to be fully immersed.

“We also sell it to schools. When the school is training, they train a cabin fire, for example, with multiple pools, fire safety tagging, and a jet bridge training to connect the bridge to the aircraft,” Koomen said. “We have a pushback simulator where you can simulate a pushback on a simple airport and smaller things like evacuations and door training.” It seems the possibilities are endless. Eventually, Koomen mentions, there could be a more significant use case for aviation mechanics.  

Some of the training—especially for pilots in recurrent training—is supplemented with modules on iPads, which also allow them to complete walkarounds or emergencies. Koomen suggests this could be more convenient for pilots who won’t need to travel anymore or go to the aircraft, which offers measurable steps towards sustainability.

How About Crew Training?

For the most part, aviation is a crewed profession, so I wondered how this would translate if pilots trained independently? He said the airline had already built some multiplayer scenarios that allow two pilots and an instructor to work together—such as a cabin fire.

“You’ve got two headsets, two trainees, and one instructor. The instructor starts the fire wherever and whenever he wants, and the trainees need to act on it.” But does the crew work well together? Koomen said while some are getting used to the new environment, trainees have adjusted.

“The moment you set things on fire, they see smoke filling the aircraft, the passengers coughing, and they hear the instructor—their adrenaline starts to climb. You’ll see them take action to activate their skills, talking with each other and working with each other to extinguish the fire before it’s too late.”

Regulations and Challenges

So, this begs the question—how is this regulated? Koomen explained that the Dutch government allows the tool for in-house training. When the program was announced, the company said the VR courses complement KLM’s existing training program and that it was trying to obtain EASA certification for the course, which would eventually replace some of the standard training components, such as classroom instruction, the cockpit poster, and textbooks.

So, aside from being a familiarization tool, it is a part of training, though pilots who aren’t comfortable with the setup yet can opt out.

“Trainees can use it, but they don’t have to because there are also people who get lost using it.”

Still, nausea seems to be one of the easier challenges to manage. Managing the device’s dataset and security presents a more pertinent problem because many commercial headsets are industry-agnostic and are built for the broadest use cases. This creates other unwanted scenarios around data management and headset security that these new departments will have to anticipate.

On the other hand, as this new field develops, these challenges are also opportunities for people who want to get involved in the training industry, but not like before. Koomen said one of the biggest challenges to the technology maturing would be graphic design, or better, gaming development. Training the next generation on these technologies will then be necessary. He said that this is why there are now a handful of public schools in Holland that introduce students to the airline environment.

Embry-Riddle Successes

The other thing that caught my attention is the progress on this side of the pond. Around the same time, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University provided an update on its PILOT program. PILOT stands for Pre-flight Immersion Laboratory for Operations Training. The university created it to increase the student training capacity of the Daytona Beach Flight Training Department by increasing the efficiency of private pilot training. 

The goals are to increase student throughput, improve student aircraft preparation, decrease overall training time, and decrease private pilot training costs. A semester after implementing VR technology, the university said a “group of 58 flight students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University reduced the time it took them to complete a first solo flight by more than 30 percent.”

VR Can Help You Work the Radios Better 

Another program feature is a virtual air traffic control lab with multiple elements that expose students to aviation English at a more manageable pace with a guiding virtual instructor and allows them to practice on their own later. 

“In the final stage of radio training, students enter a VR flight to test their skills in Simulated Environment for Realistic ATC (SERA) training technology developed by a company called Advanced Simulation Technology inc. (ASTi). As they speak with ATC, the SERA system uses artificial intelligence software to react to what the student pilot is saying as their flight progresses, correcting them when they make mistakes,” the university said.

At the time, Ken Byrnes, chair of the Flight Department at Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach, Florida, campus, shared that “students who go through our new training program are better prepared when they step into an airplane. They also have lower anxiety and greater confidence due to their experience and understanding of what to expect in the aircraft.”

When Byrnes presented an update at the Air Charter Safety Symposium in April, he shared in a presentation for the university that early completions have averaged 18 percent below the 2020-21 median cost to complete the private pilot course. Moreover, students seemed better prepared, less anxious, and demonstrated a higher mastery of the radio.

As the industry grapples with an actual pilot shortage, here is one tool that—even though it will require some adjustments to the way we do things—could materially make flying more accessible for would-be pilots. At the professional level, this could reduce the strain on training departments already at capacity and lower training costs.

The post Virtual Reality’s Impact on Flight Training Continues to Grow appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Protecting your hearing is still important, to be clear, but what we mean when we say “put your headset on” might signify something completely different in the near future. I would go as far as to say that VR might be the most prominent training tool in the next decade. 

Sure, those in a structured part 141 training environment might encounter this first, but VR headsets are here to stay. They’ll certainly change the way the next generation of pilots train.

A Promising Opportunity

I saw it for myself. Recently, before I “departed the pattern” at my university, owing to record enrollment, the university announced a new approach for incoming flight students: flight students would work exclusively in virtual environments for the first four weeks of their instruction—through VR headsets and traditional simulators—to allow them to get to know the flight deck, flight controls, and get a feel for takeoffs and landings. Then, after those four weeks, they would transition to hands-on work with real aircraft.

From my brief experience conducting stage checks with students enrolled in this program, I was impressed at how quickly they were able to piece together the core framework of flying. It’s a promising prospect that—when used well—could shorten the gap students have to cover to become pilots and save them a lot of money. 

Was it a perfect transfer of learning? It’s too early to say because there are obvious adjustments that need to be made, but I am optimistic.

In terms of learning steps for various procedures, this approach all but ensured that students could master the first level of learning—rote knowledge. Instructors could also use deliberate practice, a training tool taught to all CFIs, to ensure students master these steps. 

Instructors have to adjust too, as they’ll need to figure out how to train using these tools, and even how assessment is done. Indeed, curriculum will have to be adjusted to accommodate the new approach, and while there will be some missteps, we should lean into the future.

I’d even encourage instructors to resist the urge to be dismissive too early. It’s easy to be skeptical, but think of all the technology that was off to a shaky start. If you don’t believe me, remember that at one point, “the telephone was dangerous.” In 1933, Clarence Day, a prominent columnist, detailed some of the strange ideas people had of the telephone in its early days, especially because it had “this dangerous stuff called electricity in them.” 

Now, apart from the onslaught of robocalls today, only a luddite could argue against the upside of the telephone. I believe this is the way to think of these new training devices—not dismissed as just new technology, but studied as an improved way of doing things.

Focus on Knowledge and Practice

If you try to train students using the “way we’ve done it before” approach, don’t expect much success. 

Instead, instructors should focus on knowledge and practice. It isn’t reasonable to expect that this will be the place to fine-tune psychomotor skills. That’s absolutely what the airplane is for. Still, every student and instructor can agree that prior to some of these systems, the embedded pattern to transfer learning came from chair flying as much as possible, calling out steps, and  hoping that would translate in an airplane. It isn’t unfair to say that students found themselves learning way more than expected in the airplane, instead of being able to just practice.

There should be an easier way. That’s what these immersive experiences offer—a direct way to develop the other domains of learning—cognitive and behavioral skills. With the right nudges, students can develop their cognitive skills, recognize the rates of change that the airplane might experience with the environment, and even understand how the instruments react to pitch and power changes. 

We take for granted that this is what most people are probably doing inside the airplane when we say they’re learning to “feel the airplane.”

Hard Skills and Soft Skills

VR can also help students directly improve these behavioral skills with the right guidance from an experienced instructor. 

Knowledge and practice are what I would group as hard skills. If those hard skills are developed on the ground, it would ensure that when students get into the airplane, they can focus on the other hard skills of aviating, navigating, and communicating, like:

• Situation and spatial awareness
• Decision-making and problem-solving
• Workload management and efficiency
• Teamwork
• Communication

From my experience, students have been stuck at the first stage, aiming to still master knowledge and practice, and graduate flight training without getting to the finesse part of flying. They barely have time to get through the maneuvers, let alone have time to consider everything else. 

While things like the new airman certification standards (ACS) encourage a more comprehensive approach to encourage students to go beyond just doing steps, these immersive technologies could help us take it further because they give them more opportunities to learn.

Beyond the Airplane: Overall, Interactive Learning

There are even broader applications on the horizon that should excite you, especially on a macro level as the tech world begins to focus on these immersive environments, i.e. the metaverse. Consider how The Weather Channel has become more creative, putting Jim Cantore in the eye of the storm come hurricane season. Why not pilots, too?

We’ve already seen some industry and military facilities already using augmented reality (AR) to train technicians in the maintenance, repair, and overhaul of heavy metal and military aircraft. Again, why not pilots too?

I suspect that it will only be a matter of time before entire ground training courses depend on this technology, even with scenarios built-in, done in a compelling way. If we’re able to accomplish that, at the end of a student’s flight training journey, they’ll actually have a holistic set of skills they need to be well-rounded. 

As the FAA wrote in its 2017 November/December Safety Briefing, the shortage of pilots and technicians demands more accessible means for training. Considering that cost, convenience, and the enduring requirement for one-on-one instruction in aviation training have been the biggest barriers to entry for would-be aviation professionals, all these mixed-reality offerings can “reduce the cost of hands-on training, increase comprehension and retention, and enable multiple students to work in teams, or individually at their own pace.”

I’d love to hear from you. How do you think this new approach to training will affect the flying community? Are you optimistic or skeptical? Send me a line at michael@flying.media and let’s discuss.

The post Virtual Reality in Flight Training: More Than a Fad appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Holograms, used for decades in the entertainment industry, may soon become part of the aviation training environment thanks to a team of students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott.

The students are part of ERAU’s Simulation Science, Games and Animation program. Over the summer, the student team developed augmented-reality (AR) holograms, creating 3D models of the CRJ-700.

How it Works

Using HoloLens 2 goggles, the user steps through a series of training modules composed of interactive slides.

The AR aspect of the project allows the student to move around inside the aircraft systems, making learning akin to something out of “Fantastic Voyage,” a classic science-fiction movie where a submarine and its crew is shrunk to microscopic size to allow them venture into the body of an injured colleague to provide life-saving medical treatment.

It allows students to explore the CRJ-700 in a way they never could before.

“We encouraged the team to consider the reasons for using augmented reality rather than virtual reality on the project,” associate professor and SSGA program chair Derek Fisher explained. “They determined that while virtual reality might provide a more immersive alternate experience, AR provides opportunities to focus on interacting with the computer-generated jet while collaborating in the familiar environment of the classroom, with real-life colleagues.”

What’s to Come

Another type of hologram model in development could let the students look around the flight deck, manipulating the buttons, switches, and controls as they would in real life. The HoloLens 2 can even “see” their hands. This feature will be a benefit for tactile and kinetic learners, who need to see and touch something for optimum learning to take place.

The holographic slides contain informational labels. These labels can be manipulated by the user, making them larger or rotating them. The idea is that the users will become familiar with the controls of the aircraft and the system schematics, such as the radar danger zones and exhaust system.

The labels are removed when it is time for testing and the students can be asked to identify the parts and systems that they’ve been studying.

How Students are Learning

Evan LaBate, a senior SSGA major, notes he is gaining valuable experience as part of the developmental team, and envisions the simulations will not only enhance flight training on campus, but may also be used in other technical fields.

“Participating on this project has helped me decide that I want to do virtual or augmented reality simulations, either for military or police, as my career,” LaBate said. “I believe this technology can be used to help the military simulate live firefights, or even help with the Air Force, in giving pilots updated heads-up displays.”

“This project was a massive learning experience,” says Josh Snow, a SSGA senior. “Jobs in the field of interactive technology are plentiful but demanding, often working on large projects in small teams. The skills I have picked up from this research opportunity have better prepared me for all facets of working on and or managing a team in my career.”

The initial project was funded by an Undergraduate Research Institute grant. Now the team is focusing on improving the software to allow multiple users to interact with the same jet simulation simultaneously. After testing the new prototype, the group will seek funding to expand the program to a full-class experience.

“This is the first step down a very good road for us as a university, potentially toward an entire class in AR,” said Dr. Michelle Hight, assistant professor of aeronautical science and fixed wing program chair.

“Even if students had to attend class from home, this brings the jet to life. Every student who has a HoloLens 2 could join in 3D, standing or sitting in a virtual classroom, interacting with hologram learning tools rather than a flat screen. This is a timely pedagogical development for a world evolving and responding to a global pandemic.”

The Right Move

ERAU’s application of augmented reality is the next logical step in flight training, said Michael Puoci, a Seattle-area pilot and video game designer with more than 20 years of experience. Aviation games, especially those that involve vintage aircraft cockpits, are a passion for Puoci. During his student pilot days, he often used virtual-reality computer cockpits that he designed to practice real-world flights.

“Augmented reality will be what pushes aviation training devices to a new level,” Puoci said. “With VR, you have a mouse and screens. With AR, the person will put on the glasses and what used to be presented on screens will be a digital fabrication and full immersion and far better fidelity for simulation training for new pilots.”

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European regional airline KLM Cityhopper, a division of KLM, announced last week that it is now employing an in-house developed virtual reality system to train pilots on the Embraer 175 and 190 aircraft. KLM said in a news release that Cityhopper “is the first airline to integrate VR into its pilot training for Embraer aircraft.” The company wants “to investigate the capabilities of VR in an effort to respond more flexibly to pilots’ differing training needs.”

KLM said, “Virtual reality makes training more accessible. It is on-demand and site-independent – pilots don’t have to be in a classroom or a simulator at a certain time. What’s more, it invites them to explore, something they can do safely in a virtual environment,” says Sebastian Gerkens, Senior Instructor Embraer at KLM Cityhopper. “VR allows pilots to familiarize themselves with the cockpit in advance, so that they make more effective use of their simulator time.” The company believes the use of VR will also generate cost savings because it makes pilot scheduling more flexible and reduces the number of external suppliers.

“The VR training courses for the Embraer 175 and 190 were developed by KLM’s own VR experts in cooperation with KLM Cityhopper.” Training consists of three applications, all part of the Type Rating Course. The virtual cockpit module puts the pilot into the cockpit through an interactive, computer-generated image of the control panels. The pilot also watches a 360-degree POV video of a flight as if they were sitting on the cockpit jump seat. Finally there’s the virtual walkaround both through and around the aircraft, composed of 360-degree static photographs.

Werner Soeteman, manager of the VR Centre Of Excellence at KLM IT said, “To produce the 360-degree video and photographs, one of our VR engineers sat in the cockpit operating an advanced 360-degree camera during a flight, in close cooperation with the KLM Cityhopper pilots. Our developers haven’t the faintest idea how an Embraer works, although they’ve certainly learned a lot.”

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