The British company BAE Systems, which deals with technologies in the field of weapons, information security, as well as in the aerospace sector, is going to develop the cockpit of a new generation of combat fighter aircraft, where the usual controls will be replaced by a virtual reality system integrated into the pilot's helmet. This "wearable cockpit" will be powered by artificial intelligence and eye tracking systems, allowing the pilot to control the combat vehicle with eyes and gestures.
The idea behind BAE Systems is that the sophisticated array of toggle switches, switches and buttons that are commonly found in any cockpit will be replaced in the sixth generation of combat fighters with clean black plastic panels with only a few of the most important indicators and controls.
The system will be operational as soon as the pilot puts on and turns on the VR headset. On the dark panels, as well as on the glass of the helmet itself, all the necessary controls for the aircraft and its weapons will immediately begin to be projected. At the same time, it is proposed to make the system very flexible in terms of settings: if desired, the location of all virtual elements can be changed as simply as it is done on the screen of a regular smartphone.
Such a system could become part of the new concept of the British combat fighter Tempest, thanks to which a number of advantages could be achieved. In particular, a smaller set of physical elements inside the cockpit means lower costs for materials used to create the aircraft, lower weight and, as a result, lower cost of production and maintenance of a combat vehicle. In addition, the virtual reality control system can be easily customized for one or another combat mission.
Since the virtual control system will use artificial intelligence, it will be able to learn, making it easier in the long term the work of engineers who can make it more efficient. For example, in situations where the pilot most often has to look to the right, the system will make sure that important information is not displayed at that moment in the left corner of the person's field of view. Thanks to this, the pilot will be able to quickly perceive information and react to it in the right way.