A Toolkit for Building Interfaces for Operator-in-the-Loop Data Fusion (BIFOLD)

Decision-making in modern warfare environments is characterized by large amounts of complex information from a variety of systems that must be rapidly processed by the commander. Part of this complexity is due to poor data fusion and part due to added meta-information, or, information qualifiers (e.g., reliability) that increase the commander's burden. Effective human-system interfaces that intelligently incorporate meta-information, while helping visualize the fusion process, relieve the decision-maker's workload and enable situationally aware decisions. We propose to tackle this problem by designing and prototyping a toolkit for Building Interfaces For Operator-in-the-Loop Data Fusion (BIFOLD). Three core tasks characterize our approach. First, we will revise the JDL Data Fusion Model to incorporate operator visualization of, and interaction with, the Level 2 fusion process. Second, we will perform a cognitive task analysis to identify the operator's information and meta-information requirements and to define a human performance model for guiding interface design. Third, we will prototype a toolkit containing generic interface methods for operator-in-the-loop data fusion. We will leverage our expertise in human performance and interface design to develop the BIFOLD toolkit, interface it with an existing in-house data fusion application, and evaluate its potential to support other fusion-based Future Combat System applications.