Supporting interoperability in ATM validation: exploring human performance data integration in real-time simulations

On 17 October, 2025, the VISORS project held its second community of practitioners (CoP) workshop online. VISORS focuses on enabling distributed and federated real-time simulations that integrate human performance (HP) data alongside traditional technical simulation data. This workshop built on the first CoP event by moving beyond high-level user needs and focusing instead on how HP data can be technically and operationally integrated into the High-Level Architecture (HLA).

The session explored what it would mean to treat HP data-such as physiological signals, eye-tracking, and behavioral measures-as a first-class data type within HLA-based simulation environments, and how this could support remote experimentation, training, validation, and certification activities.

Real-time simulations (RTS) are critical for validating systems and procedures, especially in the air traffic management (ATM) context. They support validation campaigns for various operational readiness levels, including those within SESAR, and are essential as new ATM concepts like innovative air mobility (IAM) and U-space emerge. These evolving concepts have made verification and validation processes more complex, placing increasing demands on the infrastructures that support them.

The VISORS project aims to advance interoperability among ATM validation platforms by connecting multiple simulation facilities through a prototype platform. This will enable the development of a state-of-the-art interoperability solution for validating emerging ATM, U-space, and AAM concepts. As part of this effort, the project also explores how human performance data can be integrated into these real-time simulations to better understand the impact of distributed actors in these validation processes.

The core challenge: publishing human performance data across distributed environments

The workshop centered on a key architectural shift in how HP data is handled in distributed simulation environments. While distributed simulations already support the sharing of flight data and other technical metrics, one of the core VISORS objectives is to elevate HP data to the same level of interoperability.

The goal is to make HP data collection a native part of the HLA. By publishing this data directly on the HLA, VISORS enables a federated network in which a human performance dashboard can receive and visualise operator states in real time, regardless of where participants are physically located.

Workshop highlights and interactive sessions

The workshop agenda was designed to bridge theoretical architecture and practical interface design while capturing the needs of human factors practitioners. The session opened with an overview of VISORS project progress, followed by a showcase of existing commercial and prototype dashboard solutions to establish a shared frame of reference. Examples such as the INSPECT training dashboard and Noldus behaviour analysis tools were used to illustrate how video analysis, conflict prediction, and physiological data are currently visualized in operational and research contexts.

A substantial part of the workshop was dedicated to interactive discussion using a shared Miro board to capture expert input on future requirements. Participants were first invited to reflect on existing systems and methodologies, with particular attention to current approaches for remote human performance data collection and dashboard use. The discussion then moved to the operational application of a networked human performance dashboard, exploring which groups of operators should be connected and how shared data could support activities such as training, validation, and certification. The final part of the session focused on interface design considerations, including which human performance measurement tools should be integrated and how quickly data would need to be presented, whether in real time, with a delay, or for post-run analysis.

We thank all the experts and stakeholders who contributed with their time and knowledge. These insights are crucial as the project moves from requirements to prototyping and validation execution.

For more updates on VISORS, follow the project on LinkedIn