Assessing Operational Validity of Remote Tower Control in High-Fidelity Simulation

In this chapter results from simulation studies are presented which were conducted to assess the operational validity of the remote tower concept at a very early maturity level. The goal was to gain empirical evidence to lead further developmental activities, and to learn about critical design issues and human factors of the remote tower control concept. A high-fidelity simulation study with a sample of twelve tower controllers was conducted to assess operational validity of an experimental workplace for remote tower control (RTC). This set-up was compared to a simulation workplace representing a conventional tower. The core of the experimental RTC workplace is a panoramic display, presenting high resolution video data of the remotely controlled airport. Besides the feasibility of the concept, the study addressed the relevance of the view outside the tower window for air traffic controllers decision making and the benefit of information augmentation. Two functionalities were tested, being highlighting aircraft based on automatic movement detection as well as overlay of aircraft call signs. Eye tracking, questionnaire, and interview data were gathered. Results indicate that the concept is valid for control of smaller airports with little air traffic. The augmentation of call signs onto the video panorama reduced head-down times for the radar display.