Gamification in Automated Air Traffic Control: Increasing Vigilance Using Fictional Aircraft

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 x-ray scans. This paper presents and experimentally tests a proposed implementation of gamification within highly automated en-route air traffic control. Fictional flights were superimposed among automatically controlled real traffic, thus creating fictional conflicts that needed resolving. System supervisors were tasked to supervise the behaviour of a fully automated conflict detection and resolution system, while manually routing fictional flights safely and efficiently through the sector, avoiding conflicts with both real and fictional flights. Automation anomalies were simulated, 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 self-reported concentration levels and reduced boredom. 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. Thus, while the implementation of such a tool might provide benefits in terms of skill retention and engagement, further research is recommended involving professional air traffic controllers, improved measurement tools and a longitudinal study that better excites boredom, complacency, and skill erosion in order to understand and mitigate its negative effects.