2009-2010 Assessment of the Army Research Laboratory (2011) / Chapter Skim
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3 Human Research and Engineering Directorate
3 Human Research and Engineering Directorate
Pages 31-45
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From page 31... ...
Five Broad Areas of Research HRED research falls into five broad areas: 1. Human Robot Interaction (HRI)
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From page 32... ...
At a finer grain, individual research proposals may be reviewed by Army Research Laboratory (ARL) fellows, experts in their scientific domains, whose appraisals of proposed projects are provided to the ARL Director, who decides whether to allocate to proposed projects discretionary funds for the initiation of research.
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From page 33... ...
The HRI Robotics Collaboration Army Technology Objective Capstone Experi ments represent a good example of meaningful, warfighter-motivated research evaluated in a realistic field setting. This is the kind of research that HRED is uniquely positioned to do, making use of real Army operators testing field-ready technology.
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From page 34... ...
The mission-based testing and evaluation group has demonstrated a clear track record of successful application of IMPRINT in conjunction with field evaluation methods. An outstanding example was provided by the project's applying domain and mission analysis techniques, IMPRINT modeling, and human-in-the-loop evaluation in close coupling to inform the design of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle.
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From page 35... ...
It is worth noting that this aspect of neuroscience research is distinct from the medical neuroscience work performed in other DoD laboratories. The emerging neuroscience group at ARL has proceeded as a model of program development.
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From page 36... ...
Several research projects in the agenda of the social and cognitive network science program have been brought to completion, fulfilling another recommendation from the previous ARLTAB report. These include, for instance, a laboratory study of distributed dyadic interaction and the effects of network delays on pairs' communication outcomes, as well as a qualitative linguistic study of misunderstandings that arise in communications among members of cross-cultural teams.
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From page 37... ...
• HRED and Army Medical Training: The HRED field office located at the Army Medical Depart ment Center and School at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, has been assisting the center in identify ing soldier performance issues that affect rates of retention (graduation) and academic attrition (failure and dropping out)
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From page 38... ...
Such a research project could offer significant findings to the Army Medical Department Center and School for its field medical personnel, and it could make contributions to the overall Army program entitled Comprehensive Soldier Fitness, which stresses instilling resilience in individual soldiers and small units. OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES Human Robot Interaction The Army Research Laboratory could be positioned to take a leadership role in the human robot interaction domain.
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From page 39... ...
As noted in the previous ARLTAB review, ARL also can bring to bear significant talent from HRED to address human-system integration, along with robotics-related work in the Sensors and Electron Devices Directorate (SEDD) and the Computational and Information Sciences Directorate.
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From page 40... ...
Neuroscience Institutional Challenges The greatest institutional challenge facing the ARL neuroscience program is that of carving out its unique domain within the larger Army neuroscience research establishment. The Army G-1 Office (Personnel)
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From page 41... ...
• Exploring the regulation of brain processes: The most useful purpose in HRED for beginning a neuroscience program, in contrast to extending an existing HRED psychology program, is ulti mately to gain the ability to regulate brain processes involved in sensory integration and cogni tive processing and to mitigate confounding factors such as stress, fatigue, and strong emotion. The most important tools for regulating the synaptic mechanisms underlying these functions are pharmacologic.
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From page 42... ...
There is a noteworthy absence of advancement in articulating the content and structure of the social and cognitive network science domain through an organized and well-defined program of research; there appears to be no strategic plan and logical narrative guiding the program. For instance, the program comprises four major thrusts: multicultural communications, human-team-network interaction, social interaction and simulation, and computational representation.
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From page 43... ...
in an integrated research and applications program. The HRED field unit at Fort Sam Houston has been engaged in studies of early identification of the presence of mild forms of traumatic brain injury and perhaps accompanying post-traumatic stress disorder.
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From page 44... ...
There is no doubt that important topics are under study in each of the five broad areas reviewed above: human robot interaction, human system integration, neuroscience, social and cognitive network science, and soldier performance. The neuroscience group articulates a clear vision: It wants to use modern neuro science to enhance soldier-system performance.
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From page 45... ...
The current output at HRED would not support academic promotion in many cases. The Human Research and Engineering Directorate should give stronger consideration to the publica tion of path-breaking HRED research in high-impact scientific journals.
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