Gamification for Increased Vigilance and Skill Retention in Highly Automated Air Traffic Control

The introduction of more advanced automation in air traffic control seems inevitable. Air traffic controllers will then take the role of automation supervisors, a role which is generally unsuitable for humans. Gamification, the use of game elements in non-gaming contexts, shows promising results in mitigating the effects of boredom in highly automated domains requiring human supervision. An example is luggage screening, where dangerous items are rarely found, through projecting fictional threats on top of luggage scans. This paper presents and experimentally tests a proposed implementation of gamification within a highly-automated en-route air traffic control work environment. Fictional flights were superimposed among automatically controlled real traffic, thus creating fictional conflicts that needed resolving. System supervisors were given the task of supervising the behaviour of a fully automated conflict detection and resolution system, while routing fictional flights safely and efficiently through the sector, avoiding conflicts with other flights (both real and fictional). Automation anomalies were simulated during the experiment, as well as an automation failure event, after which the system supervisor needed to assume manual control over all traffic. The presence of fictional flights increased reported concentration levels among participants and improved supervisory control performance. However, some participants reported that fictional flights were distracting. Thus, while the use of fictional flights increases engagement, it might negatively affect other cognitive functions, and with that, compromise safety. Further research is recommended involving professional air traffic controllers, improved measurement tools and a longitudinal study that better excites boredom, complacency and skill erosion.