3-dimensional auditory displays: development, applications, and performance.

Virtual or 3-D audio display technology has become a reality. This type of system has the capability of synthesizing signals presented over headphones that give the user the illusion that the sound is emanating from some external location. The development of this technology, its applications, and its performance in both laboratory and flight test situations are presented. Potential fighter aircraft applications include threat location warning, wingman location indication, spatially separated multi-channel communications, and audio target location indications. The laboratory performance data show an average localization error in azimuth of approximately 5 degrees, a minimum audible angle of approximately 5 degrees, and a speech intelligibility improvement of up to 28%. Flight test results demonstrated successful audio cued target acquisition, a subjective decrease in target acquisition times, a subjective improvement in speech intelligibility, a subjective increase in situational awareness, and a subjective decrease in pilot workload. A summary of both laboratory and flight test results is presented in addition to recommendations for future research.