Aerofly R-22 helicopter, image projection and Peripheral vision.

  • The realism and natural feel of flying the upcoming helicopter could be increased by enhancing the peripheral vision in Aerofly FS2.

    The normal image is a rectilinear projection similar to that given by a camera. With wide angle views the edges become stretched out, a bit like pulling the ears of a portrait. With a very wide, close in view the ears could be as wide as the face, the result of the camera remaining centred on the person's nose with image of the ears being spread over an oblique part of the film/sensor plane. Sort of like I_ versus \__ .

    Zooming Aero wide or using multiple monitors does not give a normal view of the peripheral scene, it cannot simulate a turned eye looking directly at the side view. A camera rotating around the centre of its lens can simulate having a curved sensor and several images can be fused to create an image which accurately depicts a scene projected onto the inside of a cylindrical surface.

    The relevance to the R-22 is that the peripheral vision is an important cue to the awareness of the helicopter's relation to the horizon. Holding a good flat attitude is key to stable hovering flight in a helicopter and achieving the 'learning to ride a bicycle' moment when instinct replaces laboured coinscious control.

    These two cylindrical projection panorama pics cover 215 degrees, directly left and directly right are in the scene. The edges show the effect of the centre of the image projection being above or below the horizon.

    This is true in the wide angle simulation of a helicopter flight. These multi view windows in FS2004 cover 225 degrees of view, the edges show the actual left and right views. LaGuardia runway 13/31 runs completely across the picture.

    Level attitude.

    Speeding up.

    Slowing down!

    Flying the sim is enormously easier with the peripheral vision cues. The uphill and downhill off centre horizon is vastly more informative than trying to assess the plane of flight using the relatively small rise and fall of a flat horizon within a single rectininear (flat) projection front view. Our off centre vision lacks resolution but it is sensitive to motion.

    I use the excellent and free Hugin panorama creation software, its response to view adjustments in its preview window is instantaneous, with the wonderfully high performance of the super fast software created by IPACS for Aero FS2, could more advanced image projection be considered for use in the future?

  • VR headset is not the once best solution. There are several reasons to fly with monitor(s). Each user had to decide for his own. ;)

    I fly with monitor and I'll probably do it in the future. So I like these thoughts. May be IPCAS can improve the monitor picture. We will see. :)

  • I fly with monitor and I'll probably do it in the future. So I like these thoughts. May be IPCAS can improve the monitor picture. We will see. :)

    Same here. My Rift is gathering dust. I use just one regular monitor so this idea isn't something for me but it would be nice to have a view like that whenever I get more monitors or maybe one of those curved ones.

  • Same here. My Rift is gathering dust. I use just one regular monitor so this idea isn't something for me but it would be nice to have a view like that whenever I get more monitors or maybe one of those curved ones.

    I think my Rift would gather dust only if I was using it exclusively for simming and thus eventually got bored. Considering all the other experiences out there to be had with it however, all I can say is I'm having fun and looking forward to the next generation! Netherlands in 3D is a blast!!

    Devons rig

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  • I think my Rift would gather dust only if I was using it exclusively for simming and thus eventually got bored. Considering all the other experiences out there to be had with it however, all I can say is I'm having fun and looking forward to the next generation! Netherlands in 3D is a blast!!

    It's not that I am getting bored with the Rift in flightsimming. Otherwise I would also get bored with flightsimming on a screen. ;) I just don't like the experience for various reasons. However, I might install the Rift for some C172 flights above TrueEarth Netherlands... although I usually do get bored with random sightseeing flights very quickly... ;) I discovered I am more into IFR-like (system operated) flights. Which is a bummer because (even with the Q400 mod) AFS2 mainly is a sightseeing sim. The urge to install P3D just to fly with the fully simulated Majestic Q400 through real weather and with ATC (even without addon scenery) is becoming harder to resist day by day... Hopefully TrueEarth Netherlands will be released very soon so I won't have to give in to that urge. For a few weeks at least. ;)

  • I use just one regular monitor so this idea isn't something for me but it would be nice to have a view like that whenever I get more monitors or maybe one of those curved ones.

    i use one monitor too, I meant to suggest a single continuous cylindrical projection so that a zoomed out view could represent the output from a simulated panorama camera where the sideways view is from a wrap around the viewer.

    The conventional single image gives a straight and level horizon with pitch variations and does not present a realistic horizon relative to the viewer.

    A car going down a steep hill has the distant horizon high in the straight ahead view and leaning back towards the rear on either side, sloping through level at minus and plus ninery degrees to the straight ahead. Our peripheral awareness of this gives us a sense of our orientation relative to the horizon and especially to the true vertical which would be slightly behind the car's overhead in this example.

    The monitor does not need to encompass a 180 degree vista to benefit from cylindrical projections, the realism would just increase with a widening field of view.

    Peripheral vision is not going to be a strong point of VR viewing. Head moving left and right will be more necessary with the R-22 or else some enhanced sort of pitch reference for the straight ahead view. Some dead flies on the helicopter windscreen could be very helpful. They would make visual flying better right now.

    Edited once, last by Overloaded: text format (August 14, 2018 at 4:31 PM).