Air-Ground Integration
 -- View Group Factsheet: 334KB

Air-Ground Integration's main objective is to develop simulation environments for distributed air-ground operational concepts and use this environment to design and evaluate new concepts for distributed air-ground operations in the National Airspace System (NAS).

Aviation Training Research
 -- View Group Factsheet: 262KB

The wide-spread application of Information Technology to automate tasks in our everyday lives has improved our overall productivity and increased our safety.  Researchers, however, have identified a circumstance in which the application of these technologies has resulted in increased operator workload that has lead to reduced safety margins. This occurs when the automation induces operator error by requiring the operator to exceed the natural limits of human cognition.

Cognition Lab

The Cognition Laboratory conducts research which involves modeling the human operator in human-machine systems and experiments on normal human perceptual and cognitive processes. Current modeling efforts focus on the task of the human operator in Air Traffic Control. Experiments range from basic to applied. All experiments are administered via computer, with participants watching the monitor and answering by using the keyboard or mouse. Examples of experiments include attentional control, dual-tasking, and the detection of conflicts in an Air Traffic Control display.

Cognitive Usability Engineering and Analysis Research Lab

The  Cognitive Usability Engineering and Analysis Project is part of the Human Automation Interaction Element of Airspace Operations Systems Project of NASA's Airspace Systems program. In particular this research identifies the characteristics of training , procedures , and automation design that optimize the interaction between human and machine.

Color Usage Research Lab

The webpage for the Color Usage Research Lab provides a guide to color design for information visualization. It includes: a step by step process for designing color usage in complicated interface graphics, a detailed example of design of an aerospace display, a new color selection tool to support the recommended design process, information about color usage standards and guidelines, information about applied color science, and reference resources.

Human-Centered Systems Lab (HCSL)

The Human-Centered Systems Lab (HCSL) uses human-centered design and evaluation methodologies to develop systems and display concepts that increase aviation safety and capacity. Using methods such as human-in-the-loop simulation, nominal/off-nominal experimental design paradigms, error and procedural integration analyses, and human performance modeling, the HCSL conducts research on topics such as head-up display (HUD) design to minimize attentional capture, navigation displays to augment situational awareness, enhanced and synthetic vision display and procedural requirements, and air traffic control automation and display augmentations.

Human-Computer Interaction Group (HCI)

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is the science of creating systems to fit human capabilities and practices. The HCI Group at Ames engages in a unique combination of applied, mission-critical work and innovative research. Applied projects allow us to deploy our work in real use contexts and gather metrics that feed the core research areas of the group.

Intelligent Spacecraft Interface Systems (ISIS)
 -- View Group Factsheet: 1304KB

The Intelligent Spacecraft Interface Systems (ISIS) group is developing techniques to improve the interface between crew-members and next-generation spacecraft. Management of systems on the Space Shuttle is difficult and labor-intensive, which poses a risk to crew safety and mission success. Next-generation spacecraft are expected to incorporate advanced technologies for information processing and display, transforming fault management into a cooperative venture between crews and intelligent systems. We are developing an integrated program of systems-level simulation, real-time human-in-the-loop scenario simulation, and human performance modeling to prune the design space and optimize the crew-systems concept.