SITIS Topic Details |
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| Proposals Accepted: | |
| Program: | SBIR |
| Topic Number: | AF103-033 (AirForce) |
| Title: | HMD-Compatible Mission Performance Measurement System and Tools | Research & Technical Areas: | Sensors, Human Systems |
| Objective: | Develop and validate a measurement capturing and assessment system compatible with Helmet Mounted Displays and Cueing Systems.
| Description: | As the United States and our Allied partners move to more sophisticated 4th generation and advanced 5th generation aircraft systems, they are incorporating advanced targeting and visual cueing systems into helmets and visors. In fact the F35 will be the first 5th generation fighter to exclusively use a Helmet Mounted Display or HMD as the primary instrument and sensor display. This display offers unique advanced display characteristics not available with current heads up displays (HUDs) including aircraft graphical displays and sensors tied to the pilot’s head view rather than displayed separately in the HUD and flat panels in the cockpit. HMD systems and their application in tactical combat aircraft and potentially in simulation environments that support them have significant implications for training and for after action review and assessment. Historically, it has challenging to measure the performance and effectiveness of human operators with enhancements to environmental realism and sensor fusion. This is due to our inability to capture, in real time, important interactions between the human and the displayed information, what specific information is being attended to, the actions taken by the operator, including targeting details, and mode changes in sensor data to better identify targets and to build a tactical picture of the battlespace. The lack of instrumentation and tools to capture this kind of information needs to be addressed. What is needed in this effort is innovative research to develop and demonstrate practical tools and instrumentation to better capture important data that is presented in the HMD, the interaction of the human with the data, and reactions and actions taken based on the data, for real time assessment and performance monitoring of pilot performance, for training evaluations and assessments of pilot proficiency, and for after action review and debriefing. While the results of this effort will dramatically improve performance monitoring and assessment in simulation environments, we also see a substantial benefit in doing the same kind of assessments with operators in live operational systems, in tactical engagements, in the real world.
| PHASE I: Review current HMD applications in tactical aircraft to identify common and unique data presentation and data transmission capabilities. Develop a taxonomy that delineates these data and the expected operator interaction and actions with respect to the data. Develop specifications for data capturing and monitoring alternatives for application to HMD enabled environments.
| PHASE II: Using the taxonomy and specifications developed in Phase I, develop exemplar tools to capture and report HMD-based data and the interaction of operator with the data. Develop a criterion set of 4 scenarios for a simulation-based or actual aircraft demonstration of the tools and the captured data. Evaluate quality of data capture and utility for monitoring operator performance and for after action review and assessment. Refine tools, taxonomy and specifications based on these evaluations.
| PHASE III | DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military Application: Provide integrated methods, tools, and technologies to develop, deliver and evaluate HMD based tactical trng. It is applicable to trng & integrated evaluation involving sim based design and acq.
Commercial Application: Military and civilian agencies are using HMD-based approaches to augment the real world with real time data and to provide human operators with actionable information for a variety of uses such as humanitarian assistance, common operating picture development and distribution, and search and rescue operations. Toolset and metrics also have potential value in human operator assessments in games and multi-verse environments where interactions among humans and the synthetic environments can be monitored for a variety of feedback and interoperability assessments.
| References: | 1. Burgeson, J.C., et al., (1996). Natural effects in military models and simulations: Part III – Analysis of requirements versus capabilities. Report No., STC-TR-2970, PL-TR-96-2039, (AD-A317 289), 48 p., Aug. 2. Joint Strike Fighter Program Office Homepage: http://www.jast.mil. 3. Defense Modeling and Simulation Office homepage: www.dmso.mil. 4. Distributed interactive simulation systems for simulation and training in the aerospace environment. Proceedings of the Conference, Orlando, Fl, Apr 19-20, 1995. Clarke, T. L., ED. Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (Critical Reviews of Optical Science and Technology, vol. CR 58) 338p. |
| Keywords: | Helmet Mounted Display instrumentation and assessment, human-machine interaction monitoring, simulator fidelity evaluations, augmented reality assessment and after action review |
Additional Information, Corrections, References, etc.. |
Ref #5: Additional information from TPOC in response to FAQs about AF103-033. Contains 19 sets of Q&A. (Posted in SITIS 8/10/10.) AF103_033 TPOC QA re 19 FAQs 081010.doc |
Questions and Answers: |
No questions posed on this topic at this time |
As of midnight September 1, questions for solicitations SBIR 10.3 and STTR 10.B will no longer be accepted.
To read the solicitation for full proposal preparation and submission details click here. |