Physiological-based Tools for Virtual Environment Fidelity Design Guidance

This proposal describes the proposed implementation of the concept of the Quality of Training Effectiveness Assessment (QTEA) system. This concept was developed in Phase I (N074-028-0065). Currently, VE design is guided by subjective design models that involve multiple design iterations and focus on trial and error. Our approach is innovative and new because it quantifies VE fidelity requirements in terms of desired behavioral patterns in the trainee as quantified by physiological measures. The benefit of our proposed system is that it will enable quantitative specification of VE fidelity requirements and thus avoid costly over specification of such systems. It will also benefit the trainee by providing real-time training performance feedback. We will collaborate with the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCTSD) and PMA-205 to enhance Navy training effectiveness through integration of physiological assessment modules into existing training systems. Base program: $500k, 18 months. Mature QTEA sensor and algorithm package to TRL 6. Conduct human factors experiment to test QTEA system. Option I: $250k, 9 months. Develop automatic scenario difficulty adjustment capability. Option II: $750k, 12 months (1:1 match. $350k STTR/$350k PMA-205). Validate QTEA in an actual flight training environment.