Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!peregrine!elroy!ames!mike
From: mike@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Mike Smithwick)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: The Feds have noticed us!
Message-ID: <12961@ames.arc.nasa.gov>
Date: 7 Aug 88 05:50:44 GMT
References: <940@netxcom.UUCP>
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Lines: 37

[]

The feds had noticed us out here about a year and a half ago. In
one of the buildings I work in, the Army is developing one of the
most sophisticated helicopter simulators in this and parallel 
dimensions. The purpose of the simulator is to develop the 
man-machine interfaces for the next generation of 'copter cockpits.
Specifically, they're first trying to answer the question "can we make
cockpit displays so as not to overload a single pilot with information,
or will we need two pilots". The cockpit uses such things as helmet
mounted displays, voice recognition devices, touch-screens, etc.
This represents a serious attempt at creating the fabled "glass cockpit",
eliminating many of the discrete hardware displays of the past, and 
designing a whole new set for things such as real-time battle management,
scrolling video-maps of the flight area, and video procedure checklists.
The computer displays are driven by a number of pricey Silicon Graphics IRIS
graphics computers. But, due to the unusual nature of the new displays,
any pilots involved in the studies need a whole lotta training ahead of
time. Since the simulator costs in the thousands of $$ per hour to run
it would get very expensive if used merely as a training tool. Consequently,
some bright souls stumbled upon the Amiga as a low-cost solution to this
problem. They've currenly outfitted a pilot training room with 6 
Amiga 2000s, loaded with all sorts of CSA turbo goodies, fat hardisks
,touchscreens, and helicopter joy sticks.
 
One Amiga will display a simple helicopter out-the-window scene, while
2 others show different cockpit displays. This counts for 2 training 
stations.

All in all, not bad for a "game machine", eh?


-- 
			   *** mike (starship janitor) smithwick ***
"Due to the Writer's Guild of Amierica strike, this signature is
 temporarily cancelled".
[disclaimer : nope, I don't work for NASA, I take full blame for my ideas]