Augmented Reality ATAK Plugin Enhancing Situational Awareness for Ground Personnel during Airborne Operations

The objective of this proposal is to create an ATAK plugin leveraging SmartCam3D®, an augmented reality software providing geographically-relevant overlays on live video, to enhance situational awareness and create a collaborative, augmented reality, common operating picture among mission participants viewing real-time, airborne video. The utilization of a SmartCam3D® ATAK plugin provides the same situational awareness aids typically enjoyed by sensor operators, to all mission participants, and specifically, ground personnel using ATAK. Leveraging airborne video provides a significant tactical advantage to the warfighter, however, this advantage can be further maximized by displaying geographically-relevant, augmented reality overlays on live video. A 2005 Air Force Research Lab study analyzing sensor operator performance when viewing airborne video vs. airborne video supplemented with SmartCam3D® augmented reality overlays, found SmartCam3D® enhanced situational awareness and improved target acquisition time by 100%. Clearly, this study showed the benefits of incorporating augmented reality on airborne video for Sensor Operators. This same benefit should be enjoyed by ground personnel utilizing ATAK, allowing them to see the same operating picture being viewed by the sensor operator and other remote colleagues. Through the utilization of a SmartCam3D® plugin, ATAK users will enjoy enhanced situational awareness, gain a tactical advantage and reduce cognitive-load.