Application of Advanced 3-D Visualization Techniques to Tactical Decision Aids for Naval Warfare

THIS IS A PROPOSAL TO DEMONSTRATE THE UTILITY OF A 3-D DISPLAY FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF ACTIVE SONAR PERFORMANCE. THE PROTOTYPE DISPLAY WILL BE COMPOSED FROM A SET OF 3-D TOOLS WHICH WILL BE DEVELOPED USING THE C LANGUAGE AND NAVY STANDARD GRAPHICS LIBRARIES (X-WINDOW X11R5, MOTIF, AND OTHERS). THE DESIGN OF THE TOOLKIT WILL EMPHASIZE COMPATIBILITY WITH EXISTING SENSOR PERFORMANCE PREDICTION BUILDING BLOCKS AND THE NAVY'S UNIFIED BUILD SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENT. THE PROTOTYPE DISPLAY WILL BE TAILORED FOR REAL-TIME DECISION SUPPORT BY EMPLOYING ADVANCED 3-D VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUES, SUCH AS TRANSLUCENT SURFACES, TO AID IN THE RAPID CORRELATION OF ACTIVE SONAR DATA WITH SHALLOW WATER ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS. UPON COMPLETION OF THE PROTOTYPE DISPLAY, WE WILL USE SONAR PERFORMANCE SPECIALISTS TO EVALUATE THE DISPLAY BASED ON THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA: -DOES THE DISPLAY PROVIDE ADDITIONAL USEFUL INFORMATION (NOT PROVIDED BY A COMPARABLE 2-D DISPLAY) WHICH WOULD ACCELERATE AND/OR FORTIFY A TACTICAL DECISION? -DOES THE DISPLAY OF VOLUMETRIC DATA ALLOW THE OPERATOR TO SEE DATA FEATURES AND TRENDS WITHOUT EXTENSIVE MANIPULATION? -CAN DATA FEATURES BE EASILY QUANTIFIED AND LOCATED IN THREE DIMENSIONS? -IS THE DATA DISPLAYED WHEN REQUESTED WITHOUT A SIGNIFICANT DELAY? THE RESULTS OF THE EVALUATION PLUS QUANTITATIVE GRAPHICS BENCHMARK RESULTS FROM RUNNING THE PROTOTYPE ON A NUMBER OF TAC-3 SYSTEM CONFIGURATIONS WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE FINAL REPORT.