iPhone Operating System (iOS) Framework and Application Development for Electronic Kneeboard

The Navy has a requirement to address the problem of having USN and UMC pilots use of paper manuals and perform hand calculations in-flight. This approach is time consuming and might cause mission problems. The introduction of Electronic Kneeboard (EKB) technologies to support aircraft mission operations provides a digital age solution to address this problem. We will design a cross-platform software development suite for the EKB that provides 60-80% reusable code for all Apps in a framework designed to support all mobile operating systems APIs for any future EKBs, should the Navy decide to change or use different hardware devices in the future. This cross-platform software development suite will include tools to conduct automatic testing/evaluation of the Apps developed in the environment against a common GUI design criteria which ranks critical human-machine interfacing, cognitive capabilities, and situational awareness factors. This Phase I effort includes the characterization of these critical human interface design factors and a proof-of-concept demonstration of the App development environment for an iOS based hardware device, using one or two representative App requirements. All Phase I work will serve as the foundation and blueprint for the Phase II prototype system.