Enhancing Warfighter Performance through Predictive Model-Based Decision Aids and Adaptive Displays

The objective of the SBIR topic is the development of adaptive displays and decision aids that optimize operator/team performance by dynamically capturing and using real-world information more accurately. We intend to address this need by applying fuzzy signal detection theory, or FSDT (Hancock, Masalonis, & Parasuraman, 2000) to the domain of adaptive displays and decision aids. We propose in the Phase I research to develop specifications for a prototype system to measure, predict, and enhance pilot performance: the Fuzzy Signal Decision Enhancement System (FEDES). In Phase I, the FEDES will focus on a simulated targeting task, in the context of friend/foe discrimination. FEDES will integrate information regarding multiple dimensions of ongoing mission activity and real-world variables; thus, FEDES will address the effects of multiple factors on performance. Based on ongoing assessment of pilot performance, FEDES will change the organization of the information presented to the pilot to enhance pilot performance. FEDES will track pilot performance over time with high temporal resolution (i.e., over the course of seconds, rather than minutes or hours).