A comparison of audio, visual, and tactile warning devices in a simulated flight environment.

Abstract

An experiment was performed in which fifteen subjects responded to three separate warning devices; an audio, visual, and tactile device. Reaction times to each randomly presented device were measured while each subject was simultaneously engaged in piloting a personal flight simulator. Instructions to the subjects were continually presented visually on a TV monitor and verbally through a set of earphones. The mean reaction times for each device were compared using a difference of means t-test. The results showed that the tactile device produced significantly faster reaction times at the a = .01 significance level. This led to the conclusion that a tactile warning device could be effective in a flight environment where visual and auditory senses can easily be overloaded.