SAGES II: System Acquisition Guidance from Expert Systems

ABSTRACT:The high costs and inherent dangers of live training with air platforms have motivated the increasing use of simulation-based training. However, selecting a system to effectively meet training objectives can be challenging, particularly one that must blend multiple disparate technologies. Among these challenges is the need to acquire visual display systems that optimally support training objectives. To support this need, Aptima, Inc., proposes to develop a prototype Decision Support System (DSS) known as SAGES (System Acquisition Guidance from Expert Systems), a model-based solution intended to provide insight into the relationships between visual display attributes and training objectives. The SAGES system will include tools to characterize visual display systems, specify training objectives, and explore the tradeoffs for how well a system meets a set of training objectives compared to another system. An expert system will be at the center of this solution to analyze and prioritize systems based on a data-driven model.BENEFIT:The SAGES system will offer extensive benefits to both acquisition professionals and training communities. Acquisition professionals will be able to make informed decisions on the tradeoffs of visual display system purchases with minimal time and effort, which both facilitates optimal training and maximizes the impact of dollars spent on simulation-based training equipment. Training communities will be able to better understand existing training technology to improve the success rates for meeting training objectives. Furthermore, the commercial applications for SAGES are promising. All sectors of the Department of Defense rely on virtual environments for air platform training, and must carefully select visual display technology to meet training objectives. A similar application for SAGES can benefit the commercial aviation industry as it addresses the impact of HR5900 Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010. Finally, the medical simulation market, which also requires high visual fidelity for effective training, continues to grow and thus requires support in determining visual display technologies to meeting training objectives.