Taking Human Factors Technology into the 21st Century

From the foregoing, it is clear that NASA’s human factors research has over the past decades specifically focused on aviation safety. This work, however, has also maintained an equally strong focus on improving the human-machine interface of aviation professionals, both in the air and on the ground. NASA has accomplished this through its many highly devel­oped programs that have emphasized human-centered considerations in the design and engineering of increasingly complex flight systems.

These human factors considerations in systems design and integration have directly translated to increased human performance and efficiency and, indirectly, to greater flight safety. The scope of these contributions is [421] [422]

best illustrated by briefly discussing a representative sampling of NASA programs that have benefitted aviation in various ways, including the Man – Machine Integration Design and Analysis System (MIDAS), Controller – Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC), NASA’s High-Speed Research (HSR) program, the Advanced Air Transportation Technologies (AATT) program, and the Agency’s Vision Science and Technology effort.