Aerospace Testing InternationalAerospace Testing International
  • News
    • A-E
      • Acoustic & Vibration
      • Avionics
      • Data Acquisition
      • Defense
      • Drones & Air Taxis
      • Electric & Hybrid
      • EMC
      • Engine Testing
      • Environmental Testing
    • F-L
      • Fatigue Testing
      • Flight Testing
      • Helicopters & Rotorcraft
      • High Speed Imaging
      • Industry News
    • M-S
      • Materials Testing
      • NDT
      • Simulation & Training
      • Software
      • Space
      • Structural Testing
      • Supplier News
    • T-Z
      • Technology
      • Telemetry & Communications
      • Weapons Testing
      • Wind Tunnels
  • Features
  • Magazines
    • March 2025
    • Dec 2024/Jan 2025
    • Showcase 2025
    • September 2024
    • June 2024
    • Archive Issues
    • Subscribe Free!
  • Opinion
  • Webinars
  • Events
    • All Events
    • Aerospace Test & Development Show
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Suppliers
    • Supplier Spotlights
    • Press Releases
    • Technical Papers
  • Jobs
    • Browse Jobs
    • Post a Job – It’s FREE!
    • Manage Jobs (Employers)
LinkedIn YouTube X (Twitter)
LinkedIn YouTube X (Twitter)
Subscribe to magazine Subscribe to email newsletter Media Pack
Aerospace Testing InternationalAerospace Testing International
  • News
      • Acoustic & Vibration
      • Avionics
      • Data Acquisition
      • Defense
      • Drones & Air Taxis
      • Electric & Hybrid
      • EMC
      • Engine Testing
      • Environmental Testing
      • Fatigue Testing
      • Flight Testing
      • Helicopters & Rotorcraft
      • High Speed Imaging
      • Industry News
      • Materials Testing
      • NDT
      • Simulation & Training
      • Software
      • Space
      • Structural Testing
      • Supplier News
      • Technology
      • Telemetry & Communications
      • Weapons Testing
      • Wind Tunnels
  • Features
  • Magazines
    1. March 2025
    2. Dec 2024/Jan 2025
    3. Showcase 2025
    4. September 2024
    5. June 2024
    6. March 2024
    7. Archive Issues
    8. Subscribe Free!
    Featured
    19th March 2025

    In this issue: March 2025

    Online Magazines By Ben Sampson
    Recent

    In this issue: March 2025

    19th March 2025
    contents and front cover of magazine

    In this issue: December / January 2025

    19th December 2024
    Showcase 2025

    In this issue – Showcase 2025

    6th November 2024
  • Opinion
  • Webinars
  • Events
    • All Events
    • Aerospace Test & Development Show
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Suppliers
    • Supplier Spotlights
    • Press Releases
    • Technical Papers
  • Jobs
    • Browse Jobs
    • Post a Job – It’s FREE!
    • Manage Jobs (Employers)
LinkedIn YouTube X (Twitter)
Aerospace Testing InternationalAerospace Testing International
Features Opinion

Thermography for facial tracking

Ben SampsonBy Ben Sampson2nd April 20193 Mins Read
Share LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Email
Adrian Marinescu
Adrian Marinescu (Image: Alex Wilkinson Media)

Workload as a concept in the field of human factors is important because it helps us gain a better understanding of workplaces and how they can be designed to take into account human abilities.

The idea of workload seems intuitive. Most of us have experienced working at different levels. Despite this, quantifying it poses challenges and it remains an active area of research. Subjective measures, such as asking a person to estimate their level of workload after performing a task, rely on memory – and workload can be remembered incorrectly. Another popular technique is to assess task performance. The main disadvantage of this approach is that performance may not be sensitive to changes in workload.

Our research developed a third technique of workload assessment – physiological measures – and was aimed at tasks that have a dominant cognitive nature, such as piloting an aircraft.

This approach assumes that as more demands are placed on an operator, more physiological resources will be used. One advantage is that most physiological parameters are not under conscious control and can be recorded continuously in a non-intrusive manner. We chose to monitor face temperature using thermography, heart rate, breathing rate and pupil diameter, because these measures interfered the least with the task.

Facial thermography measures variations in surface temperature on the face using a thermal camera and uses facial landmark tracking algorithms to capture the temperature variation on a person’s face without restricting head movement.

Our research initially explored the human physiological response to workload in a laboratory setting. The study involved participants playing a computer game with varying levels of difficulty while their physiological signals were monitored. This approach allowed us to more accurately control the level of demand imposed on the participant while minimizing external influences.

The results demonstrated that facial thermography and pupil diameter can be used for non-invasive real-time estimation of workload. The most noticeable changes were observed in the nose area, which showed significant decreases in its temperature.

The research was later extended to a six degrees of freedom, high-fidelity helicopter simulator study, with commercial pilots as subjects, to test if highly trained individuals would have a similar physiological response to the general public. This study showed that it is feasible to deploy physiological monitoring such as facial thermography in an aircraft cockpit, and that pilots do show similar physiological changes to the general public. However, a similar study with a larger number of participants is needed to confirm these findings.

Future studies will look at applying these measures to different domains, collecting data from a larger population, exploring other measures such as functional near-infrared spectroscopy, which measures blood oxygenation levels in the brain, and making use of the latest developments in deep learning to analyze facial expressions. The research will increase our understanding of how humans interact with work environments, such as cockpits, in addition to informing the design of such workplaces. There is also high potential to apply these technologies in other sectors.

Share. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Email
Previous ArticleMars helicopter completes flight tests
Next Article MIT and NASA engineers test morphing wing
Ben Sampson

Ben has worked as a journalist and editor, covering technology, engineering and industry for the last 20 years. Initially writing about subjects from nuclear submarines to autonomous cars to future design and manufacturing technologies, he was editor of a leading UK-based engineering magazine before becoming editor of Aerospace Testing in 2017.

Related Posts

Features

NDT: Robotics and software spur innovation

21st May 20258 Mins Read
Features

How new computing advances have reignited alternative rocket engine design

14th May 20258 Mins Read
Drones & Air Taxis

Stations in the sky: How engineers are testing HAPS for the stratosphere

6th May 20259 Mins Read
Latest Posts

dSPACE expands Scalexio platform for HIL testing

23rd May 2025

AIR cargo eVTOL completes night flight testing

22nd May 2025

Astrolight raises €2.8m to build optical space communications network

22nd May 2025
Supplier Spotlights
Our Social Channels
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
Getting in Touch
  • Subscribe To Magazine
  • Contact Us
  • Meet the Team
  • Media Pack
Related Topics
  • Aircraft Interiors
  • Business Jet Interiors
FREE WEEKLY NEWS EMAIL!

Get the 'best of the week' from this website direct to your inbox every Wednesday

© 2023 Mark Allen Group Ltd | All Rights Reserved
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.