TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Human Systems

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: Program Manager Marine Expeditionary Squad (PM MERS)

OBJECTIVE: To develop perceptual screening, training and operational tools and metrics to assist Marines, Seals, Allies, and Coalition Forces in USMC � Terrorism operations.

DESCRIPTION: Today�s warfighter is challenged by an opposition that blends into the operational environment while unleashing lethal technology, such as improvised explosive devices (IEDs), in conjunction with insurgent spotters and snipers. These insurgent forces are inflicting most of our causality counts through the utilization of IEDs by concealing these objects and themselves in diversified terrain environments, often in line of site of nearby friendly targets. Gaming, video simulation and high resolution photographic imagery have taken the warfighter into more realistic training, reducing casualties and improving mission success. While today�s training has improved observational abilities, better anomaly detection including during changes in weather and ambient light intensity, would mitigate insurgent efforts to correct and enhance their tactics.

To take perceptual visual training to the next level, the warfighter should possess honed visual skills to help detect insurgents� and IEDs during immersion in hostile geographical environments. The warfighter should be able to detect changes that signal insurgent threats during changing weather conditions and risk conditions, and at any time of the day. Merging technology, instructional/training tools and human systems is necessary to effectively/efficiently enhance warfighter capabilities to Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act during complex, stressful combat conditions. These capabilities will increase situational awareness in live fire and force on force training evolutions by relying not only on sophisticated devices to distill complex environmental vulnerabilities, but also by the possession of improved warfighter cognitive and visual discrimination skills to discover and expose risks. Warfighter capacity to recognize relevant and potentially dangerous physical and local demographic changes in patrol areas requires keen vigilance and change detection skills.

PHASE I: Establish training tool functionality requirements, operating specifications, interface and simulation design for the unaided (sans digital devices) warfighter. Develop a roadmap to a prototype in which situational awareness is favorably impacted in changing scenarios, including changing light and weather conditions. Create a simulation tool framework for screening and testing that requires only minimal instructor intervention and uses existing training equipment. Develop metrics to identify individuals with high visual change detection acumen. Other metrics will be used to define the individual�s baseline for both anomaly and change detection in visually noisy environments using optimized scanning techniques.

PHASE II: Develop individual training modules using the operational metric assessment, baseline performance level identification, and scenario design and validation study established in Phase I. These modules will include temporal observation, change and anomaly detection techniques and enhanced visual skills for the detection of IED devices, and insurgent snipers and spotters in urban and other terrain. These modules should include scene management accounting for changing environments during varying levels of human stress and fatigue. This phase should also provide acquisition of data to be utilized for providing the warfighter with enhanced visualization tools by transferring accumulated data to scalable forms for mobile devices. These tools will optimize human system integration by enhancing and prioritizing information processing and decision making and providing improved team collaboration and communication for distributed operations.

PHASE III: This phase will consist of the development of a scalable interface design component for embedding into devices that augment warfighter observational abilities. These devices will combine assessment/screening and training knowledge and technologies from Phases I and II, establishing a framework for the integration of Augmented Cognition science. This interface will be scalable across complex combat environments and improve operational cognitive performance with no additional weight penalties for the warfighter by incorporating neurophysiological and biometric monitoring such as optometric sensors embedded into shoulder mounted optical sighting systems.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: The applicability of new visualization tools and training for government, defense and industrial entities are at its earliest stages. With the increasing homeland security threats, and with ongoing surveillance required by operators for C4ISR, UxVs, transportation sectors, industrial and corporate complexes, and financial risk management among other operations, the human system integration will continue to evolve along with the complexity of training and the increasing hardware and software capabilities. At the end of each Phase of this SBIR and for the accumulation of all Phases, derivative products and services, should give rise to a myriad of functional technologies.

REFERENCES:
1. Rensink, R.A., O'Regan, J.K. & Clark, J.J. On the failure to detect changes in scenes across brief interruptions. Visual Cognition, 7, 1, 127-146, 2000

2. O'Regan, J.K., Deubel, H., Clark J.J. & Rensink, R..A. Picture changes during blinks: looking without seeing and seeing without looking. Visual Cognition, 7, 1, 191-212, 2000

3. Simons DJ, and Rensink RA (2005a). Change blindness: Past, present, and future. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9: 16-20

4. Bellenkes AH, Wickens CD, Kramer AF Aviat Space Environ Med 1997; 68:569-79 Visual scanning and pilot expertise: the role of attentional flexibility and mental model development

KEYWORDS: Perceptual visual skills, visual scanning, training, simulation, augmented cognition, anomaly detection

TPOC: Dylan Schmorrow
Phone: (703)696-0360
Fax: (703)696-1212
Email: [email protected]
2nd TPOC: Joseph Cohn
Phone: (703)602-5149
Fax: (202)478-5174
Email: [email protected]
3rd TPOC: William Krebs
Phone: (703)696-2575
Fax:
Email: [email protected]

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

DoD Notice:   Between November 13 and December 9, 2007, you may talk directly with the Topic Author(s) to ask technical questions about the topics. Their contact information is listed above. For reasons of competitive fairness, direct communication between proposers and topic authors is not allowed starting December 10, 2007, when DoD begins accepting proposals for this solicitation.

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