2011-2012 Assessment of the Army Research Laboratory (2013) / Chapter Skim
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3 Human Research and Engineering Directorate
3 Human Research and Engineering Directorate
Pages 44-60
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From page 44... ...
Overall Organization Research in HRED is currently organized around two large, major laboratory programs: the Human Dimension program and the Simulation and Training Technology program. This chapter is organized along the seven research thrusts within the Human Dimension program: 1.
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From page 45... ...
Simulation and training technology is a major laboratory program with five research areas: adaptive and intelligent training technologies, synthetic envi ronments, immersive learning, training applications, and advanced distributed simulation. Train ing applications are domain-specific research areas and include medical, dismounted soldier, and ground platform training.
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From page 46... ...
CHANGES SINCE THE PREVIOUS REVIEW The appointment of a new HRED Director in January 2011 has provided stability to HRED management. A senior scientist in neuroscience has also been appointed, which represents an important milestone in the development of the translational neuroscience thrust in HRED.
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From page 47... ...
To support this effort, the hiring of more senior, experienced scientists should be complemented by the better use of available field operations reports, and even medical reports, to prioritize studies and plan how they should be executed. SENSORY PERFORMANCE Changes Since the Previous Review The most notable positive change in the sensory performance area has been the progress toward a strategic vision.
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From page 48... ...
Although the evalua tions of various off-the-shelf systems can provide an important service to the Army, as a general rule, they do not connect to progress in basic science. Given HRED's laboratory capabilities, one would like to see a research loop in which an evaluation task raises basic science questions.
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From page 49... ...
Current physical and cognitive performance interaction research consists of three thrust areas aimed at quantifying the effects of soldier equipment on physical and cognitive performance and their interaction: (1) Developing new measurement methods/devices for collecting cognitive and physical performance data in operationally relevant environments, (2)
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From page 50... ...
Few research facilities are capable of supporting the study of this combination of factors; this capability is a strength of the physical and cognitive performance interaction research thrust. Because considerable effort has been devoted to the development of these new facilities, it is not surprising that a significant portion of recent work has involved validation of devices including the omnidirectional treadmill, the force plate treadmill, and aspects of marksmanship measurement.
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From page 51... ...
Overall Quality of Research The research of the physical and cognitive performance interaction research group is generally of high technical quality. To date, its scope has been somewhat limited, but its work may be viewed as preliminary to a successful, coherent program of research based on a developing vision and an excellent suite of deployed experimental platforms.
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From page 52... ...
The goal of the translational neuroscience program at HRED is to integrate modern neuroscience with human factors, psychology, and engineering to enhance our understanding of soldier function and behavior in complex operational settings. Neuroscience is a vast field, and it has been imperative for HRED to concentrate its efforts on specific problems with potential Army relevance.
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From page 53... ...
Improving communication with those groups would assist this group in its work. The translational neuroscience group seems to be the obvious locus of leadership for all HRED-relevant neuroscience research.
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From page 54... ...
Social-cognitive network science (like any of the HRED research thrusts) is a vast topic, and choices should be made about where to devote research effort and where to build staff expertise.
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From page 55... ...
By using effective human performance modeling tools early in the acquisition process, potential performance problems can be identified and resolved sooner resulting in better-designed systems for the warfighter. This work requires a combination of knowledge of the Army materiel acquisition system and of the constraints on human performance.
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From page 56... ...
This project was designed without adequate attention to the existing literature on, for example, effect of cognitive load or dual task interference. An ad hoc task design was neither realistic enough to be as compelling as applied research nor basic enough to be likely to generate generalizable basic research findings.
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From page 57... ...
Other work is deficient in conception and/or execution. OPPORTUNITY-DRIVEN RESEARCH Changes Since the Previous Review Since the previous review, opportunity-driven research (ODR)
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From page 58... ...
In this case, it seems likely that best progress would be made in collaboration with robotics partners beyond HRED, whose role is on the evaluation side of the equation. Other ARL partners would be a possibility, as would industry or academic partnerships arranged through the Army Research Office or a funding vehicle like a CTA.
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From page 59... ...
The training applications program focuses on domain-specific research such as medical training, dismounted soldier training, or ground platform training.
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From page 60... ...
Some of the work will likely benefit from a closer link with HRED. The work on real-time monitoring of ECG and GSR signals during computer-based training is a natural point of collaboration with the translational neuroscience group.
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