VIsual Representation Toolkit for Integrated, Goal-Oriented Awareness (VIRTIGO)

Advanced battlespace network visualization techniques are required to improve cross-domain situation awareness and support goal-oriented decision-making within the AOC. To address this need, we propose to design and demonstrate a VIsual Representation Toolkit for Integrated, Goal-Oriented awareness (VIRTIGO). This VIRTIGO visualization toolkit will support the adaptable presentation of display interfaces that seamlessly integrate network health and status information and meta-information with other traditional AOC information resources and activities across air, space, and cyber domains. Two key components characterize our approach. First, to enhance situation awareness, we will use Ecological Interface Design methods to develop a set of display mechanisms that perceptually and cognitively integrate critical blue and red network health and status information with traditional AOC information resources. Second, to support the dynamic integration and rendering of heterogeneous information resources within these structures, we will develop a network visualization ontology that maps heterogeneous AOC data sets onto information models suitable for role- and task-tailorable representation across a variety of visual display mechanisms. We will assess the effectiveness of our approach in supporting goal-oriented awareness by leveraging existing in-house, COTS, and GOTS components to rapidly design, prototype, and evaluate promising VIRTIGO visualization concepts in a spiral design and implementation effort. BENEFIT: We expect the fully developed VIRTIGO visualization toolkit to have immediate and tangible benefits across both government and commercial applications. Government applications include the development of battlespace visualization technologies that will improve warfighters’ decision-making response time and provide enhanced flexibility for mission planning by revealing affordances for leveraging, disrupting, or enhancing network connectivity. Commercial applications include improved network visualization capabilities through enhancements to Charles River Analytics’ CONNECT™ software tool for the rapid development, editing, analysis, and representation of social, organizational, and communications networks.