Introduction of touch-screen displays and voice recognition to the commercial flight deck

Featuring a range of new multifunction displays, the cockpit real estate on many new and older aircraft has been undergoing major renovations. And the ways pilots are interacting with the avionics is also changing. Sparked by the popularity of the iPad and other tablet computers, the touchscreen revolution is getting underway on many flight decks, and there is at least some talk about the future use of voice recognition. All of this activity is not signaling the immediate demise of the traditional switches, however. They are still expected to be used to control safety critical operations. In addition, many push-button switch companies are refining their offerings to address changing circumstances while supplying products for an expanding legacy fleet. In October, Rockwell Collins began flight testing the latest configuration of its Pro Line Fusion cockpit featuring the industry’s first touchscreen primary flight display on Hawker Beechcraft King Air B200GT. Additionally, the company said the system will debut as a retrofit option from Hawker Beechcraft Global Customer Support (GCS) for Pro Line 21-equipped King Airs. Certification is expected by the end of 2013 with entry into service in early 2014.

According to Guillaume Lapeyronnie, cockpit marketing manager at Thales, the company is currently working with several aircraft manufacturers to get their feedback about the concept of touch-screen interfaces with the goal of entering into service around 2018. Currently, though, only helicopters have adopted the technology, due to a number of hazards and the difficulty in operations it would create.