Multimodal Aircrew State Assessment and Augmentation using Combined Near Infrared Spectroscopy, Electroencephalography, and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

Military aircrew are called on to perform complex cognitive tasks during strenuous physical activity in extreme environments, and must be ready to perform at a high level at a moment’s notice. Extended exposure to these operational stressors accumulate to degrade aircrew performance and few tools are available to determine or augment aircrew need during flight. In this project, NIRSense proposes leveraging the DoD’s significant investments in NIRSense’s flight-demonstrated cerebral oximeter, demonstrated to assess aircrew cognitive workload on operational USAF aircrew, by integrating a co-located, software-integrated EEG system and leveraging material advancements in a custom forehead system adhesive. The outcome will be an engineered prototype system prepared for follow-on human subjects research and further integration with cognitive augmentation capabilities.