In order to promote scientific and technological innovation in the field of civil aviation and strengthen industry technical exchanges and cooperation, the Civil Aviation Four-Chain Integration Innovation and Development Conference and the first China Southern Airlines Group Science and Technology Innovation Conference were held in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province on April 26. At the conference, important developments in a series of high-end simulators with Chinese characteristics and a series of domestically developed high-grade vision system products were announced. Among them, it was the first to introduce a new-generation full-motion flight simulator vision system created by a game engine. Compared with existing products in the industry, it has achieved an intergenerational breakthrough in technology, and has passed the highest level certification by the Civil Aviation Administration and has begun to enter the official commercial application stage.

According to the joint project team of China Southern Airlines and Tencent, the self-research vision jointly developed by the two parties has passed the CCAR-60 (flight simulation training equipment management and operation rules) highest grade D certification by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, and has officially begun the commercialization process. The system is the first fully self-developed video system developed based on game technology and virtual image display technology that has passed the D-level certification of the Civil Aviation Administration in China, and won the first prize of the 2023 China Aeronautical Society Science and Technology Progress Award.

The self-developed vision system is based on technologies such as Tencent's self-developed game engine and China Southern Airlines' self-developed virtual image display technology. It has achieved key technical breakthroughs in the self-developed visual system, filling the domestic technical gap in this field. It can not only provide more efficient and safer flight training for more than 80,000 civil aviation pilots, but also make China the third country in the world to independently develop a complete vision system. According to reports, the self-developed visual system provides a 1:1 simulation driving experience for civil aviation pilots for training and retraining, and first-perspective image rendering of world scenes. It consists of three parts: a simulation training package, a 3D vision database, and an asset creation tool kit. Combined with a display system composed of an industrial simulation projector, it can create more realistic and immersive views.

In May 2022, a joint project between Tencent and China Southern Airlines Vision was established. On November 18, 2022, the product prototype was successfully run on the simulator. On June 20, 2023, the self-developed Vision successfully tested on the A320 simulator and the actual machine was announced. On December 29, 2023, the self-developed Vision was installed on the E190 simulator, which officially passed the CCAR-60 highest level certification by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, and began pilot training in January of the following year. At present, the self-developed Vision has completed the loading of the E190 commercial aircraft. It is expected that the installation and upgrade of several commercial simulators will be completed in 2024. At the same time, China Southern Airlines Flying also announced that all subsequent self-developed simulators will use Self-developed Vision.

At the conference, Jia Xingyuan, Deputy Director of the Science and Technology Innovation Bureau of the State Council's State-owned Assets Administration Commission, Chen Wei, Deputy Director and Chief Engineer of the Central South China Regional Administration of Civil Aviation, Han Wensheng, General Manager of China Southern Airlines Group, Pan Yixin, Executive Vice Chairman of the China Aviation Association, Fu Yongge, Deputy Director of the Executive Committee of the Hengqin Guangdong-Macao Deep Cooperation Zone, and Gao Li, vice president of Tencent Mutual Entertainment, delivered opening speeches.

Han Wensheng, general manager of China Southern Airlines Group Co., Ltd., said that China Southern Airlines is stepping up its scientific and technological innovation research efforts. We are carrying out joint research on key aviation industry problems, promoting research and development of domestic full motion flight simulators. The visual image engine system developed in cooperation with Tencent has reached the international advanced level, has completely independent intellectual property rights, and has broken through the technology monopoly of foreign companies. The self-developed A320NEO full-motion flight simulator successfully passed the D-class certification of the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Gao Li, vice president of Tencent Mutual Entertainment, said that China Southern Airlines and Tencent's self-developed next-generation self-developed vision are the world's first practical exploration based on a combination of game technology and self-developed virtual image display technology, and will definitely deepen people's understanding of the value of “game technology.” “These new technologies, which originated in the game industry and continue to develop along with the game industry, can not only help flight training, but also be applied to more aviation scenarios such as low-altitude flight, intelligent airport management, general aviation, civil aircraft research and development, and unmanned driving, as well as other industrial fields, continuously breaking through existing industry categories and becoming super digital scenarios with more possibilities.”

During the product launch session, Yang Lei, manager of the Science and Technology Innovation Management Department of China Southern Airlines Xiangyi Company, gave a detailed introduction to the product content, product features and technical advantages of the Vision System.

Yang Lei said that the system is the country's first domestically developed full-motion flight simulator vision system based on game technology and high optical performance virtual imaging technology. Overall, it has reached the world's advanced level. In the future, it will have a wider application space in the fields of medical treatment, nuclear power, emergency rescue, etc., bringing great economic and social benefits.

He explained that compared to the previous self-developed vision, which optimized the PCG+AIGC content generation pipeline based on self-developed game engine technology, it provided airport production tools, landscape production tools, and modular city generation tools, along with added automation and modular functions, which significantly improved asset generation efficiency. At present, the visual system has successfully automatically generated more than 80% of content, and the efficiency of digital asset generation is 10 times higher than that of existing mainstream products in the market.

At the same time, the self-developed vision optimized material effects and detailed performance, increased the number of model generation surfaces by 380 times, achieved height and texture fusion at global landscape junctions, and supported the switching and performance of various materials such as dry, wet, dirty, and winter snowscapes. It has a complete weather, physics, and particle system. It not only realistically recreates sky effects such as fog, snow, hail, fog visibility, lightning, clouds, and volcanic ash, but also supports simulation of special events such as “bird strikes” and explosions.

Relying on advantages such as global dynamic lighting, a more realistic weather system, more realistic and realistic night flight lighting, the self-developed vision provides more realistic and comprehensive training scenarios and training content not previously covered by other products, and is more in line with the needs of China's civil aviation pilot skill life cycle management system (PLM) construction.

In the future, Self-developed Vision will launch more efficient high-definition realistic visual asset production standards based on game asset production pipelines. According to this standard, all reconstruction of global landscape and civil aviation airports will be completed. It is expected to complete the production and delivery of 200 high-precision airports within a year. Currently, 31 of them have been completed. The accuracy of airport data and the truth of the airport environment will quickly help pilots familiarize themselves with the training route time, and enable pilots to give more realistic operating feedback.

Equipped with China Southern Airlines' self-developed virtual image display system, through China Southern Airlines' self-developed optical path design, integrated back projection screen molding, high-precision polyester film control, and ultra-wide image display with a vertical viewing angle of 40 degrees and a horizontal viewing angle of 200 degrees, the self-developed vision can present pilots with an ultra-wide visual imaging image with an infinite depth of field, and highly realistic flight scene restoration.

At present, the self-developed vision has been successfully adapted to mainstream models such as the E190 and A320, and will be able to support more flight protocols and models in the future.

In addition to the visual system, Yang Lei also announced the domestic A320NEO full-motion flight simulator developed by Zhuhai Xiangyi Aviation Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China Southern Airlines Group. It successfully passed the D-class certification by the Civil Aviation Administration of China on January 2, 2024, and has reached the level of current international mainstream similar products. This is the first domestically produced full-motion simulator independently developed by a central enterprise. It is also the first highly customized product developed based on the characteristics of Chinese pilot training. It pioneered the development of full-motion simulators at domestic flight training centers. Among them, nine major features, including EBT scene training, a next-generation flight data platform system, and an open space remote risk management system, are all pioneers in China.