title: ATC-lab: an air traffic control simulator for the laboratory.
abstract: Air Traffic Control Laboratory Simulator (ATC-lab) is a new low- and medium-fidelity task environment that simulates air traffic control. ATC-lab allows the researcher to study human performance of tasks under tightly controlled experimental conditions in a dynamic, spatial environment. The researcher can create standardized air traffic scenarios by manipulating a wide variety of parameters. These include temporal and spatial variables. There are two main versions of ATC-lab. The mediumfidelity simulator provides a simplified version of en route air traffic control, requiring participants to visually search a screen and both recognize and resolve conflicts so that adequate separation is maintained between all aircraft. The low-fidelity simulator presents pairs of aircraft in isolation, controlling the participant's focus of attention, which provides a more systematic measurement of conflict recognition and resolution performance. Preliminary studies have demonstrated that ATC-lab is a flexible tool for applied cognition research.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. s.loft@humanfactors.uq.edu.au
authors.forename: Shayne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Loft
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Neal
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Humphreys
authors.forename: Gillian
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yeo
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D000401:Aircraft; D001288:Attention; D001359:Aviation; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D011589:Psychology, Experimental / Q000379:methods; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods; D014584:User-Computer Interface