Tactile transformation in flying airplanes

From hands-on to fingers-on aviation

Bibliographic Data

ID6443399
AuthorsBrian Mcdonough (0000-0003-2249-4657, Solent University, UK, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume27
Issue8
Pages4712-4728
Publication date2024-04-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueNew Media & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1461-4448 • E-ISSN: 1461-7315
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/14614448241237764
OpenAlexW4393425670
LanguageEN
References cited25

Portable laptops, cell phones, touchscreen equipment and other mobile devices are changing the way commercial airplane pilots are handling information used for flying aircraft. Pilot expertise and skill are being transformed by a new approach in which fingertips are replacing traditional hands-on methods of controlling airplanes. Drawing on participatory and interview methods at a UK airbase, this article draws on ethnographic research with commercial pilots and pilot cadets, to trace the refashioning of cell phone media in an aviation context where touch-based computer screens replace traditional airplane technology. Drawing on Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology, this article examines how the knowing, sensing and intuition through the hands allows for a particular sort of la prise (grip) which accustoms itself to the emergence of new tactile and human–computer interfaces

Aeronautics · Airplane · Aviation · Cockpit · Human–computer interaction · Laptop · Multimedia · sort · Touchscreen · Computer Science · Digital Games and Media · Engineering · Innovative Human-Technology Interaction · Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts

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Open DOIOpen Access