A Rollercoaster to Model Touch Interactions during Turbulence

We contribute to a project introducing the use of a large single touch-screen as a concept for future airplane cockpits. Human-machine interaction in this new type of cockpit must be optimised to cope with the different types of normal use as well as during moments of turbulence (which can occur during flights varying degrees of severity).

We propose an original experimental setup for reproducing turbulence (not limited to aviation) based on a touch-screen mounted on a rollercoaster. Participants had to repeatedly solve three basic touch interactions: a single click, a one-finger drag-and-drop, and a zoom operation involving a 2-finger pinching gesture.

The completion times of the different tasks as well as the number of unnecessary interactions with the screen constitute the collected user data. We also propose a data analysis and statistical method to combine user performance with observed turbulence, including acceleration and jerk along the different axes.

We then report some of the implications of severe turbulence on touch interaction and make recommendations as to how this can be accommodated in future design solutions.