Automated Techniques to Reduce Operator Workload at the Passive ASW and Human-System Interface

Phases I through III of this SBIR are about developing and implementing a new technology for creating “Tactical User Interfaces” (TUIs) that reduce manpower requirements and increase watchstander performance. Phase I applied this multi-faceted “TUI Technology” to passive sensors, especially ASW. Later phases include active sensors, command and control (C2), multiple surface ship mission/warfare areas, and, potentially, applications at the Joint Command level. TUI Technology encompasses several broad innovations in system design, including: (a) new concepts in design of “tactical” systems (those that engage potential threats in “real time”); (b) new methods for establishing design requirements for tactical systems; (c) new methods – called “design patterns” – for low-cost migration of successful design features and functions from one tactical system to a new, similar-but-not-identical system; and (d) a new perspective on the issue of “tactical problem solving” in time-constrained situations where extreme consequences can result from a watchstander’s outright errors or poor performance. Phase I proved the TUI Technology concept. Phase II implements key aspects of TUI Technology in a functioning prototype. Phase III will use TUI Technology to leverage the effectiveness of the Navy’s emergent network capabilities, to distribute watchstander workload across multiple platforms – both deployed combatants and shorebased commands.