Aviation pilot collision alert

Abstract

A collision alert system employs binaural acoustic effects to direct the attention of a person in a desired direction. In one embodiment, the angular location of a possible collision risk is detected to energize one of a plurality of acoustic generators spaced angularly apart about the cockpit of an aircraft. The Pilot utilizes normal delay and acoustic modification of high frequencies to determine the direction to look for the target. In another embodiment, the pilot wears headphones which inhibit normal binaural direction location. The delay and acoustic modification are simulated before being fed to left and right headphones. In a wired system, the headphone signals are produced off the headphones. The head angular position of the pilot is compensated so that, as the pilot's head is turned toward the simulated target position, the delay and acoustic modification are adjusted to compensate for the actual head position. In a further embodiment, the target angle is communicated to the headphone-wearing pilot using an optical radiation emitter. A plurality of receiving devices on the headphone determines the angular location of the pilot's head relative to the target angle. In a further embodiment, an optical radiation emitter is modulated to indicate the target location.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.