Aurora Flight Sciences is developing FARSIGHT (Flexible Adaptations to Remote Supervisory Interfaces for Generalizable Human-autonomy Teams), a new human-machine interface (HMI) enhancing collaboration between humans and autonomous systems.
This HMI uses autonomy to adapt the timing and content of information presented to the human operator, depending on its urgency and the user’s cognitive capacity or real-time needs.
With FARSIGHT, Aurora is addressing the challenge of designing autonomous systems that can recognize and respond to human cognition. Building on its research in cognitive inference, the company uses flight simulation and noninvasive sensors like eye trackers and heart rate monitors to develop algorithms that estimate a pilot’s workload, fatigue, and situational awareness.
The FARSIGHT HMI has been tested in a smart chair virtual reality environment and a desktop processor-in-the-loop simulation.
FARSIGHT allows humans to work with autonomous teammates more naturally, enabling a single pilot to supervise a larger team of uncrewed aircraft, either from a ground station or as autonomous wingmen in flight, while maintaining optimal performance.
Its introduction is especially important for defense operations, where the growing use of Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) means human pilots will increasingly oversee multiple drone teammates. To maximize safety and effectiveness, the cognitive demands of these complex operations must be carefully managed.
Well-functioning partnerships between humans and machines can achieve better outcomes than either could alone, improving safety and enabling more complex missions that expand the number, breadth, and duration of tasks completed.
FARSIGHT is part of an internal Aurora initiative that supports employee innovation and the exploration of new ideas. The program has led to technological advances across multiple areas, including autonomy, sustainable manufacturing, and rapid prototyping.
Sildomar Monteiro, autonomy group manager at Aurora, stated, “FARSIGHT is advancing the future of human-machine teaming. Until now, we haven’t given autonomous systems information about their human teammates. With FARSIGHT, autonomous systems can moderate communication based on their human counterpart’s readiness to accept it. This more closely approximates how humans interact with each other and improves the functionality of the team.”
