MOTO project

MOTO (the embodied reMOte TOwer) is a Horizon 2020 project in the framework of the SESAR Research and Innovation Action (RIA). The main aim of the project is to identify the key multimodal stimuli required on remote tower platforms to enhance the sense of presence experienced by air traffic controllers (ATCOs).

This improvement of the sense of presence is ultimately expected to benefit air traffic controllers' attention levels, the decision-making process and facilitate real-world knowledge and skills transfer to a simulated worksite (remote tower).

The project has initiated in June 2016 and will last 24 months.

The state-of-the-art of cognitive neuroscience has shown that multisensory information plays an important role for humans to really feel immersed in an environment.

Human performance R&D in air traffic management (ATM) and remote tower operations has been mainly focused in visual and auditory senses. Consequently, two major research opportunities were identified:

• The first one, to consider the role of all the human senses in tower operations. An embodied cognition approach could be applied to achieve a full understanding on the use of all senses for controllers, besides the visual one.
• The second, to explore innovative human-system interaction concepts on the understanding of embodied aspects of ATM human performance.

Context

1. Assess the role of multimodal acquisition of information (i.e. multisensory, beyond visual, and proprioception) in current control tower operations.


2. Define user requirements for a multimodal remote tower, to reconstruct multimodal perception in a remote tower simulation platform.


3. Define neuro-physiological indexes customized for remote tower operations, to monitor aspects of human performance like workload, situation awareness, fatigue and attention allocation.


4. Validate the above results in realistic ATM operational conditions through simulation facilities for both a state-of-the-art remote tower and the augmented remote tower.

Objectives