Distance Estimation Training With Night Vision Goggles PDF Download

An experimental demonstration was made of the efficacy of immediate feedback in improving observers' estimates of distance where those estimates were made outdoors at night while wearing night vision goggles (NVGs). Initially, observers made unguided estimates of distances between marked positions in an open field. Those distances ranged from 25 ft to 210 ft. Later, the same observers made more estimates. After each, they were told the measured distance between the positions. During this training, the observers' eye height from the ground plane was either at a standing position or at an elevated position (12 ft from the ground). After the training--either immediately after, or after a week, or at both times--observers made unguided estimates of distance again. These estimates of ground distance made with the NVGs were significantly improved from the first unguided estimates; average improvement for the group of observers persisted for at least one week after training. direct feedback training appears to be more effective at improving performance at distance estimation (in terms of both precision and error variability) than the training assessed in previous experiments where no verbal feedback was given.