The saying that “war is long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror” could have been written for military UAV pilots. The news media like to portray drones like the MQ-1 Predator as robot warriors, but behind each one is a human pilot with only limited powers of endurance. On long missions, pilots get bored and distracted, so a team from MIT’s Human and Automaton’s Lab is studying how what can be done to stave off boredom and keep pilots alert.
Flying military drones is often less like being a pilot and more like being a babysitter. Shifts can last up to twelve hours and missions can go on for weeks or even months. In such a situation, maintaining concentration is difficult as the craft circles endlessly over a target where nothing is happening. Boredom does more than make a twelve-hour shift seem like twelve days, it can also cut down on reaction times when the pilot’s attention is needed.
via gizmag
Image: Department of Defense
