Jan Ober

The effect of high acceleration on the brain and human vision will be considered, especially the interaction between reduced cerebral blood supply (systolic blood pressure at the head falling below intraocular pressure of 18 mm Hg) and retinal oxygenation.

In the considered conditions the still functioning brain lacks time to notice reduced retinal oxygenation (no response to light stimulation) at the minimal level of blood supply (at least 10 mm Hg systolic pressure above diastolic pressure). The result is a delayed attribution of meaning to the acquired context of a situation.

Instead of updating the flight model based on flight instruments, pilots tend to replace it with erroneous pre-LOC data or erroneous expectations (lack of awareness of being in LOC, loss of sense of time).

Vestibulo-oculomotor responses (VOR) are useful during ground operations. They ensure the stability of the image projection on the retina, essential for high-spatial-frequency vision, VOR moves the eyes at the same speed as the head, but in the opposite direction, compensating for head movement. This prevents the projected image from shifting and blurring, which can impair high-resolution vision.

The VOR operates in opposition to high-resolution vision, impairing it to the point, that pilots may struggle to properly read flight/navigation instruments.

Pre-flight testing is necessary to assess reduced VOR habituation. The WHITE-BOX project postulates monitoring the pilot's EYE MOVEMENTS during flight.

Biography:

Professor Dr. hab. Jan Ober is now emeritus professor at the Institute of Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering, Polish Academy of Sciences.

He finished studies in 1969 at the Leningrad (St. Petersburg) Institute of Precision Mechanics and Optics. He was awarded the Doctor degree of technical sciences in 1972 at Czestochowa University of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. He obtained habilitation in 1977 at the Department of Mechanics, Aviation, and Energy Engineering at Warsaw University of Technology.

In 1980, Professor Jan Ober established an Independent Laboratory of Rehabilitation Engineering and Biomechanics of the Institute of Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Poznan, Poland. Throughout the period of the laboratory activity, he was acting as the Head.

Professor Jan Ober's research focuses on oculomotor functions, especially of the eyes, in the application to the diagnosis of neurological diseases, monitoring the physiological aging of the central nervous system and the risk of brain concussion in contact sports (e.g. in the case of boxing), as well as on difficulties in acquiring reading skills among children (dyslexia). The research includes also the attention management mechanisms for operators of complex technical systems, in the safety context.

In result, this research concerns the design of systems with a built-in knowledge in such a way that the users should be aware of it. Thus, even if it is primarily a basic research that includes development of methods, diagnostic experiments, measuring devices, etc. the design of prototype devices is necessary to conduct practical tests.

He headed the White Box Project for military aviation safety and participated in European Projects: Vintec devoted to flight safety in civil aviation (shared situational awareness) and Vita devoted to safety of the energy supply European network.

It should be stressed that the devices developed by Professor Jan Ober are used in over twenty leading universities and research centers all over the world.

Email:

Address:Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering, Poznan, Wielkopolskie, Poland, 61-131