back to article NASA developing brain-monitor hats for airline pilots

US aerospace agency NASA has announced that it is developing a brain-monitoring hat for airline pilots to wear. The idea is that the bonce-clocking headset will know when pilots become "mentally overloaded" and help them to "realise" this. The brain-titfers are being developed at NASA's Glenn Research Center using "functional …

COMMENTS

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  1. Paul Murphy

    Easy -

    It will prompt them to take a brisk walk in the fresh air.

    To calm them down - it works for me at any rate.

    ttfn

  2. pc
    Coat

    Woo hoo!

    Flying guinea pigs in funny hats!

    Where's the YooToob link?

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    Well DUH !

    Believe you me, when performing an instrument landing in turbulent conditions, you do not need a box that goes beep to inform you that you are at pucker-factor 11.

    A box that tells your employer that you reached overload will end your career pretty damn quick !

    What next, a box to tell divers that they are encountering high water pressure? Perhaps a box to tell fishermen when they are getting cold.

    Well done NASA.

  4. scott
    Joke

    Oh come on, the answer is simple! Otto!!

    http://sidesalad.net/archives/AirplaneMovieOttoPilotInflatable.jpg

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    easy answer what to do when overloaded

    Teh system will handover the tasks partially to the backup(co-pilot)

    It should have been named 'load balancer for pilots'.

    I think that idea was overdue.

  6. Bassey

    I have an idea

    How about playing pan-pipe music in the cockpit and auto-enabling a massage feature built-in to the pilots chair whilst lighting a few joss-sticks for them?

    Alternatively, dislaying the words "Don't Panic" in large, comforting letters has a good track record.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    That's a Nice Hat

    Bowler or top?

  8. Tim Wolfe-Barry

    Better warning message

    <Michael Winner>Calm down dear, it's only an Engine Failure</Michael Winner>

  9. lIsRT

    Reconfigurable Instruments?

    (disclaimer - this is from my sub-PPL level experience)

    Aviation has certain priorities - there's an old saying: "Aviate, Navigate, Communicate" - indicating the most important to least important things you should be doing, in all cases the "Fly the Aircraft" (FTFA) rule applies.

    Having the aircraft systems being "aware" of pilot stress levels could possibly be very useful - in a glass cockpit, displays could be reconfigured to remove information not immediately necessary, and enlarging what remains to give it more prominence.

    (what is "immediately necessary" might be disputed - that's the main problem I can see with this)

  10. Magani
    Coat

    Hat's fabricated...

    ...out of tinfoil, perchance?

    Mine's the one with the copy of Biggles in the pocket

  11. DJ

    The results are going to be suprising.

    After taxing, running down the runway , lifting up , putting the gear up, and switching on the autopilot. I wonder how they will explain the results when he turns to page 3 of the sun?

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    The most dangerous part of an airplane...

    ...is the nut in the cockpit.

    Paris, becauce she's an expert on cockpit technology.

  13. SImon Hobson Bronze badge

    And what will they do ?

    As David Gunson put it so many years ago - if this alarm goes off, the first thing the pilot will do is turn it off. After all, the last thing you need during an emergency is an alarm going off !

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