Developing the display presented many problems.  Some of them were unexpected.  Already in 1978, the Wright-Patterson team reported discovering what it called “display fascination” to a DARPA conference on biocybernetics.  Extensive testing and a body of anecdotal evidence showed that “crew members often become enthralled or ‘drawn into’ their display,” so that it becomes difficult for them to interrupt or change the focus of their attention.  The lure of the display could potentially present problems during operations.  The air force was worried that it took test pilots consistently longer to redirect their attention from the display to the real world than from the real world back to the display.  It was as if the operators would default into the machine.


—     Thomas Rid, “Rise of the Machines”