Why LFV and Entry Point North work together
LFV has already tried eye tracking with controllers in operations. Now it wants to see how students and experienced controllers differ when they scan the radar screen.
LFV trains its student controllers at Entry Point North, so the two organisations are running the project together in the training environment. Our guide to becoming an air traffic controller in Sweden explains how that training is organised and how long it takes.
How it works in an exercise
The eye-tracking equipment sits below the radar screen and records where the student is looking. The student works as usual during the exercise.
The instructor follows the student’s gaze on a separate display and can return to specific moments in the debriefing afterwards.
Why scanning is hard to explain
According to Christoffer Artursson, Simulator Director at Entry Point North, scanning technique has been discussed in controller training for many years, but it is hard to explain what good scanning looks like.
He says eye tracking “could give instructors and students a common visual reference”.
Instead of telling a student to improve their scanning, an instructor can go back to a situation and ask why the student stayed on one area for a long time, or only glanced at another and moved on.
What the data cannot show
Eye tracking shows where a student looked, but not whether they understood what they saw. One exercise does not give a full picture of a student’s competence either.
That is why the instructor’s interpretation and the conversation with the student remain central.
More data does not automatically make a better debriefing. Part of Entry Point North’s job in the project is to work out what information instructors need and how to use it without overwhelming the student.
What happens next
The next step is to analyse the data from the first test phase and identify what could be developed further. The announcement gives no date for results and does not say whether eye tracking will become a regular part of the training.
What it means if you are applying
The project is about training after selection, and the announcement does not mention selection or aptitude tests. Which tests you take still depends on where you apply.
If you want to get used to finding what matters on a busy screen, our visual scanning test and radar simulation are free. They are our own practice tasks, not the method Entry Point North uses.