Night vision goggles aided flight simulator system and method

A method for simulating night vision goggles aided night flight operations, the method comprising

• calculating a flight simulator image;
• projecting the flight simulator image onto a projection screen;
• and
• measuring a viewing vector of a night vision device;
• wherein the flight simulator image projected onto the projection screen is masked as a function of the measured viewing vector, wherein the masking comprises dividing the flight simulator image into:
• a central part that is in a field of view around the viewing vector, and
• a peripheral part that is outside the field of view;
• wherein the central part of the flight simulator image is projected with an increased brightness with respect to an intended brightness, while the peripheral part is either projected with a relatively low brightness corresponding to an actual nightly light level or not projected at all to reduce an amount of indirect light scatter of the peripheral part into the central part and into the night vision device;
• wherein the increased brightness of the central part is reduced back to the intended brightness before entering the night vision device by a perforated plate and/or light reduction filter mounted between the projection screen and the night vision device, wherein simultaneously any remaining indirect light scattering of the peripheral part into the night vision device is further reduced thereby increasing contrast of the central part as viewed through the night vision device.

A non-transitory computer readable medium with software instructions that when executed by a flight simulator system, cause the system to execute a method comprising:

• calculating a flight simulator image;
• projecting the flight simulator image onto a projection screen;
• and
• measuring a viewing vector of a night vision device;
• wherein the projected flight simulator image projected onto the projection screen is masked as a function of the viewing vector, wherein the masking comprises dividing the flight simulator image into:
• a central part that is in a field of view around the viewing vector, and
• a peripheral part that is outside the field of view;
• wherein the central part of the flight simulator image is projected with an increased brightness with respect to an intended brightness, while the peripheral part is either projected with a relatively low brightness corresponding to an actual nightly level or not projected at all to reduce an amount of indirect light scatter of the peripheral part into the central part and into the night vision device;
• wherein the increased brightness of the central part is reduced back to the intended brightness before entering the night vision device by a perforated plate and/or light reduction filter mounted between the projection screen and the night vision device, wherein simultaneously any remaining indirect light scattering of the peripheral part into the night vision device is further reduced thereby increasing contrast of the central part as viewed through the night vision device.