14 August 2006

Trip Report

Department of Defense

Human Factors Engineering Technical Advisory Group

(DOD HFE TAG) Meeting #55

 15-18 May 2006

 

The 55th meeting of the DoD HFE TAG was held in Las Vegas, NV. The meeting was chaired by Ms. Maureen Bergondy-Wilhelm, Naval Air Systems Command, Orlando, FL. The theme of the meeting was Enabling Decision superiority with HSI.  Approximately 125 people attended the meeting, representing the US Army, US Navy, US Air Force, DARPA, NASA, FAA, DoD Laboratories, Canadian DRDC, several human factors-related technical societies and industry associations. Several additional personnel representing industry and academia attended as invited speakers.

 

Four items are attached:

·      Background of the DoD HFE TAG, attachment (1)

·      Program Summary, attachment (2) 

·      Detailed Meeting Agendas and Schedule, attachment (3)

·      DoD HFE TAG Operating Board, attachment (4)

·      TAG attendees, attachment (5)

·      DoD HFE TAG Policies, attachment (6)

 

Plenary Session Presentations  

 

The DoD HFE TAG Chair for the 55th meeting, Maureen Bergondy-Wilhelm, welcomed attendees to the meeting and introduced the first plenary session presenter.

 

Air Force Host Welcome and Overview:  Mr. James S. “Odie” Davis, Air Force Research Laboratory Liaison to USAF Warfare Center, Nellis Air Force Base welcomed the TAG participants to Las Vegas (james.davis@nellis.af.mil, (702) 652-8003).   Nellis certifies most all USAF equipment and performs operational testing. It is the single source for tactics and doctrine development, provides graduate education and top adversary top graduates, hosts joint exercises and integrated training – in short, it provides solutions to combat problems.  The Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) and Air Force Warfare Center (AFWC) have a partnership:

¨     The 98th range wing employs spatially-separated audio for range control.

¨     The USAF Weapons School performs performance evaluation in high stress environments.

¨     The Combined Air and Space Operations Center provides “ACMI for the CAOC.” 

¨     The Joint Air-to-Ground Operations Group provides joint air to ground operational training.

¨     The Predator and UAV Battle Lab performs research on crew fatigue, manning and scheduling for Middle East operations.

¨     The Security Forces and Desert Warfare Training Center employs multi-spectral devices, etc.

Future priorities include: enhancing decision making as a process, capability performance enhancement and providing innovative solutions to urgent needs.

 

Enabling Decision Superiority with HSI - Major Peter Garretson, Chief, Future Technologies Branch, HQ USAF Future Concepts and Transformation (peter.garretson@pentagon.af.mil, (703) 692-4795) is a C-5 and C-9 pilot, currently at the Pentagon as a long-term planner for the Air Staff. He is an OODA loop advocate. The new scarcity in Air Force aviation is human attention. As the number of airmen is reduced, a high percentage of those remaining will be decision makers.  HSI can help select the best decision makers, train them to higher standards, conserve and protect decision makers, understand decision making and eliminate waste, and apply cognitive prostheses. A new thrust, AFSO-21 is causing the Air Force to start over in the way it looks at decision making:  investigation areas will include data visualization and augmented reality/augmented cognition, both of which are critical to making significant progress. A much closer working relationship will be needed between HSI and Information Technology (IT) disciplines.

 

62nd Engineering CBT Battalion (H): LTC Dave Weston, Engineering Officer, US Army Chief of Staff, 6th Recruiting Brigade. In Iraq, LTC Watson’s Battalion laid 225 miles of pipeline from Camp Virginia to Talil Airfield. This included:

¨     60,000 pieces of pipe

¨     18 pumping stations (800 gallons/minute)

¨     6 tactical petroleum terminals

¨     20 million gallon total capacity

¨     Weighing over 4,500 tons

¨     One heavy combat brigade for four months.

 

During this operation there was very little C2.  Over the course of about 15 minutes, LTC Weston provided the audience with a graphics-based presentation illustrating the hardships faced by the Army in working in this environment. This provided many examples of where HSI could  help.

 

Operational Neuroscience and its Impact on Decision Superiority:  Dr. Amy Kruse, Program Manager, DARPA-DSO, provided several examples of how DARPA is investigating this relationship (amy.kruse@darpa.mil (571) 218-4338). The focus at DARPA is on the human in the loop – with the brain at the center of command and control.  DARPA has explored several methods of sensing brain activity:

¨  EEG    Electro-encephalography

¨  MEG   Magneto- encephalography

¨  fMRI   Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

¨  PET     Positron Emission Tomography

¨  fNIR    Functional Near Infrared

 

EEG (electrical activity) and fNIR (oxygenation) hold near-term promise. Their goal is to develop a closed-loop computational system where the computer adapts to the warfighter in order to improve performance.  Three different DARPA research projects were briefly discussed:

¨  The Boeing Company (Dr. Rich Edwards, et al), in conjunction with Dr. Glenn Wilson at WPAFB has explored control of four UAVs at a time using fNIR and EEG to sense workload.

¨  The Neuro-technology for Intelligence Analysts (NIA) program has as its goal helping analysts move through imagery more quickly. They are exploring the question: “Are their brain signals associated with targets in satellite imagery?”  In this study, EEG 200 msec after target presentation was determined to be associated with target detection. Different scanning techniques were explored to speed target detection. The methodologies being studied have potential application to TSA baggage screening and mammogram screening.

¨  Another program being conducted by Lockheed-Martin, involves Tomahawk Tactical Work Station (TTWS). L-M is attempting to use neuroscience measures to help Human-Computer Interface (HCI) designers identify more usable interfaces that make operators less error-prone.  They are attempting to develop a tool to detect and distinguish work workload-induced errors. Primary indicators are EEG, heart rate, GSR and off-head eye tracking.

¨  Another area of investigation is in the training area, where the goal is to use the innate plasticity of the brain to accelerate learning in the operational environment, to accelerate the transition from novice to expert by inducing localized plasticity in the brain. It is thought that increased plasticity in sensory brain structures results in enhanced information processing (synesthesia).

 

Human Performance Integration – Full Steam Ahead: Mr. Rick Etheridge, Director Human Performance and Systems Acquisition Branch, Chief of Naval Operations [OPNAV N173] disc