There are a host of helmet and head mounted displays, flooding the market place with displays which provide what is
essentially a mobile computer display. What sets aviators HMDs apart is that they provide the user with accurate
conformal information embedded in the pilots real world view (see through display) where the information presented is
intuitive and easy to use because it overlays the real world (mix of sensor imagery, symbolic information and synthetic
imagery) and enables them to stay head up, eyes out, - improving their effectiveness, reducing workload and improving
safety.
Such systems are an enabling technology in the provision of enhanced Situation Awareness (SA) and reducing user
workload in high intensity situations. Safety Is Key; so the addition of these HMD functions cannot detract from the
aircrew protection functions of conventional aircrew helmets which also include life support and audio
communications.
These capabilities are finding much wider application in new types of compact man mounted audio/visual products
enabled by the emergence of new families of micro displays, novel optical concepts and ultra-compact low power
processing solutions. This papers attempts to capture the key drivers and needs for future head mounted systems for
aviation applications.
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