The Transferability of Pilots’ Video Gaming Experience to the Skills and Situation Awareness of Operating UAVs

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, are increasingly used in various industries. However, this increased automation can lead to reduced safety, decreasing situational awareness (SA). Industry experts have investigated operator accuracy, attentiveness, and selection methods by testing transferable skills between pilots with different video gaming (VG) habits and flying a drone. To contribute to this research further, we investigated pilots’ VG playing habits on SA while flying a UAV and their ability to learn and perform in a novel scenario. SA of non-VG playing pilots and VG playing pilots while operating a drone using a simulator was compared. VG playing pilots ( n = 31), compared to non-VG playing pilots ( n = 31) were quicker to adapt and learn in a novel environment and exhibited significantly better SA while flying a drone. These findings may be useful to identify individuals who are predisposed to better SA, thus improving selection and training.