Human computer interaction issues with touch screen interfaces in the flight deck

Touch screen technology has gained considerable interest in the flight deck design with the evolution of consumer products such as Apple iPad and iPhone and Microsoft Windows 7. This consumer driven technology brought demand for effective human machine interfaces, but the challenges associated with the technology that were hounding the industry for last few decades still exist. This paper reviews earlier research that investigated application of touch screen technology in the flight deck. It lists the advantages and challenges that the touch screen technology brought to the flight deck from the human centric point of view. This paper also provides a theoretical framework for this research by elaborating on the preliminary scenarios and measures we will capture in order to ascertain that touch screen technology can provide a more efficient and safer environment to the pilots.