Training Aircrew Competency using Eye-Tracking (TACET)

This project entitled, _Training Aircrew Competency using Eye-Tracking (TACET)_, will harness the potential of innovative technology and science, in Eye-Tracking, Virtual Reality (VR) and Psychology, to develop a novel pilot training tool that aims to train competency and accelerate skills learning and acquisition.

There is a need within the flight training industry to bridge the gap between desktop learning and simulator training, to speed up learning opportunities and make the training process more affordable for pilots and Airline Training Organisations (ATOs). TACET will be designed to align with, and improve upon, existing Aircrew Competency Training, and will bring benefits and insights that are not achievable in conventional flight simulators. Such simulators are in high demand and expensive to access, while TACET will be relatively inexpensive and can be accessed by trainees remotely.

TACET training will enable pilots to accelerate their skill learning within the early flight training process, and provide remote learning opportunities for pilots refreshing their skills before returning to work. This is particularly relevant during and post COVID-19 pandemic, where there is a need to get pilots refreshed and re-qualified following a prolonged absence from flying. It is also anticipated that this training will have associated benefits in contributing to pilot mental health and wellbeing. It can used as an aid to ease pilot anxiety relating to re-assessment or qualification by providing pilots with the opportunity to re-familiarise themselves with their working environments and practising training procedures.

We aim to create innovative flight training that utilises our own bespoke Pysch Adaptive Virtual Environments (PAVE) software to enhance training experiences, differentiating us from other virtual flight training providers. PAVE is comprised of a number research theories relating to training skills using eye-tracking technology, including Feedback Eye Movement Training and Feed-Forward Eye Movement Training, delivered via an off-the-shelf, head-mounted, virtual reality headset. These tools have previously been deployed with the military.

The PAVE software which forms the core of TACET not only uses eye movements to train proficiency at a task, but can also be used to accurately index a user's emotional state and adapt a training environment accordingly to create an adaptive and dynamic learning environment, for example to make it more or less complex/challenging or add or remove hazards or distractions. It will be able to detect when learning objectives have been completed and advance the training automatically.

Compelling academic research indicates that the ability to adapt an environment to a user's emotional feedback, is likely to bring unparalleled performance enhancements, which can lead to decreasing accidents/events, improving task outcomes and fault finding, and better preparedness for accessing work environments.