Traditional pilot training has long struggled to effectively measure and improve decision-making, communication, and situational awareness which contribute to nearly 75% of aviation incidents (Kharoufah et al., 2018).
Cineon’s Training Aircrew Competencies using Eye Tracking (TACET) solution addresses this gap by using virtual reality and eye-tracking technology to offer a cost-effective, immersive training platform.
What Are the Key Challenges in Pilot Training Today?
In aviation, soft skills such as decision-making, communication, and situational awareness are crucial for safety. Yet, these competencies are often overlooked in today’s pilot training, which tends to focus more on technical skills, possibly due to these abilities being difficult to train and evaluate as they are subjective and hard to quantify.
Traditional training methods, such as classroom-based learning and flight simulators, have their strengths but struggle to measure these non-technical competencies effectively. While full-flight simulators are highly realistic, they are expensive and require substantial resources. Classroom methods are cost-effective but lack immersion and do not capture the dynamic elements of real-life flying.
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How Can VR and Eye-Tracking Technology Improve Pilot Competency Training?
To tackle these challenges, Cineon developed TACET with funding from Innovate UK’s Sustainable Innovation Fund. With the International Air Transport Association’s CBTA core competencies at the forefront, TACET was specifically designed to objectively measure five of the nine essential CBTA skills, providing a data-backed assessment for each.
- COM – Communication
- SAW – Situation awareness and management of information
- LTW – Leadership and Teamwork
- WLM – Workload Management
- PSD – Problem Solving and Decision Making
TACET bridges the gap between traditional classroom training and expensive full-flight simulators, offering a cost-effective, immersive training solution. By leveraging VR to simulate a range of cockpit scenarios, Pilots respond to challenges within the virtual environment, while eye-tracking technology captures key data on their performance. AI-powered analytics then assess these interactions, offering objective insights into the pilot’s decision-making and situational awareness.
“Cineon’s TACET tool and VR eye-tracking technology provide a 360-degree view of pilot performance, helping us enhance Competency-Based Training by capturing crucial skills like situational awareness and stress management.” – Richard Nanton FRAeS FloL, Aviation Training Expert
Over the past three years, TACET has been tested with various pilot groups and Approved Training Organisations (ATOs), and it is now being used in statutory Crew Resource Management (CRM) training with airlines.
Read the study in the International Journal of Aviation Psychology to discover how TACET has demonstrated the ability to enhance pilot assessments and integrate seamlessly into existing training programmes.
What Are the Key Benefits of Using TACET in Pilot Training?
The integration of TACET into pilot training has led to several key benefits:
- Objective Assessment of Soft Skills: TACET’s AI-driven analytics offer data-backed insights into a pilot’s decision-making, communication, and situational awareness—skills that are difficult to assess with traditional methods.
- Cost-Effective Training: TACET offers a more affordable alternative to expensive flight simulators, providing a realistic and effective training experience without the high costs.
- Enhanced Competency Training: Early testing has shown that TACET is particularly effective at improving soft skills, such as stress management, communication, and decision-making under pressure.
Discover more about the research behind TACET’s development.
Cineon’s TACET solution revolutionises pilot training by combining immersive VR technology with objective performance metrics. With promising early results and growing adoption, TACET is positioned to be a transformative addition to pilot training and assessment programmes.
