{"id":240672,"date":"2019-06-06T07:42:26","date_gmt":"2019-06-06T14:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=240672"},"modified":"2022-04-03T15:55:06","modified_gmt":"2022-04-03T22:55:06","slug":"us-navy-aims-to-reduce-warfighters-cognitive-load","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/us-navy-aims-to-reduce-warfighters-cognitive-load","title":{"rendered":"US Navy Aims to Reduce Warfighter\u2019s Cognitive Load"},"author":5252,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[198062],"tags":[362122,362132,362112,276792],"industry":[],"esri-blog-category":[478532],"esri_blog_department":[478242],"class_list":["post-240672","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-defense","tag-common-operational-picture","tag-integration","tag-interoperability","tag-military","esri-blog-category-analytics","esri_blog_department-public-safety"],"acf":{"video_source":"","video_start":"","video_stop":"","short_description":"GIS helps to synchronize inputs from sensors and soldiers in a common operational picture that provides real-time situational awareness.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<em>Part 3 of 3 Detailing the US Navy\u2019s Innovation Battle Lab<\/em>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"Key Takeaways\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Warfighters use GIS to integrate information inputs from sensors and drones.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>A common operational picture tracks locations and movements.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Flexible technology makes it easy to stand up purpose-driven apps.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"As the United States recently commemorated 100 years since the end of World War I, a number of stories surfaced. The First World War marked the first wide use of airplanes for scouting and reconnaissance. Before radio, intelligence units would communicate to aircraft by arranging white sheets on the ground in coded arrays or flashing signals with lamps using Morse code. Pilots would scrawl notes and roll them into tubes that trailed streamers, carefully dropping them near command posts. Not much information could be conveyed using this system, and pilots had a difficult job flying a plane while writing or looking over the side to make sense of the signals.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s hard to imagine this pre-digital communication in light of the wealth of information that today\u2019s warfighter sends and receives. In fact, too much information is often the challenge. In response, one of the central goals of the US Navy\u2019s Innovation Battle Lab is to reduce the cognitive load on soldiers by integrating information.\r\n\r\nThe impetus for the event came as more digital technologies were being applied to situational awareness, and command and control. Those in conflict zone operations centers had recently achieved the ability to watch troops in contact situations. But, their view was challenging\u2014an array of monitors displaying seven or eight different systems that weren\u2019t integrated.\r\n\r\n\u201cA lot of our work stems from getting away from the swivel chair effect,\u201d said the lead interoperability engineer. \u201cIf you've got a bank of monitors showing different systems or camera feeds, you've got to constantly watch those monitors to understand what\u2019s going on.\u201d"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<strong>Conveying Critical Information<\/strong>\r\n\r\nMany event participants have recently returned from conflict zones. The fresh perspective and heightened awareness honed by war helps them evaluate whether the newest technologies could have reduced the chaos of combat.\r\n\r\nWhen every second counts for life-and-death decisions, quick and clear communication is critical. The US military has developed many methodologies over the years to aid clearer communication, such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/special-ops.org\/44808\/what-is-a-9-line-medevac-and-how-to-properly-call-it\/\">9 Line<\/a> report that is used to communicate unexploded ordnance, medical evacuations, and other critical information.\r\n\r\nThe 9 Line goes all the way back to radio reporting. Line 1 communicates the location, line 2 reports how the reporter can be contacted, line 3 shares the details about the scope (such as number of patients), and onward until all critical details have been conveyed. Orienting both the reporter and the receiver to the information required by each of the 9 lines helps both parties understand what's being said and what's being received.\r\n\r\nDuring the Innovation Battle Lab, handheld apps used the 9 Line format to report threat inspection details on a survey form. By sharing information via a form-centric app, users were able to speed up the transmission of inspection details for chemical, biological, radiological, or explosive hazards. The details were sent directly to a dashboard and quickly aggregated on a map view.\r\n\r\n\u201cThat's a pretty revolutionary thing,\u201d said Dave Shultz, business development executive at Tactical Electronics speaking from his personal experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan."},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<strong>Gathering Up-to-Date Details<\/strong>\r\n\r\nMaking quick, prudent tactical decisions requires an improved understanding of what\u2019s happening now. During the Innovation Battle Lab, teams used two real-time event reporting servers to map and analyze sensor feeds. One server was used to ingest more than one million records of sensor data. The other was used to conduct point-to-point integration with the technologies of other vendors.\r\n\r\nThe types of sensor feeds varied, with information displayed as aggregated data or as a direct feed from the sensor.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe imported feeds from cameras at route intersections,\u201d said Jim Bennett, an Esri expert on naval special operations.\u201cWhen teams moved into the area around a camera, an operations dashboard view could automatically flip to the nearest camera at that moment to show what else was around there.\u201d\r\n\r\nThis level of real-time information delivery and analysis helps optimize limited resources and capabilities to support the mission at the moment.\r\n\r\n<strong>Providing Immersive Experiences<\/strong>\r\n\r\nLow-altitude flight drones and imaging cameras are making it easier for the military to collect 3D details of what\u2019s happening on the ground. Previously, teams used drones to capture imagery and elevation data for the entire area prior to an event. They used common data formats to import this information into other systems, including the gaming platform known as Unity.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe shared the drone outputs with a virtual reality company who were working to create immersive visualizations using the HTC Vive VR headset with controls,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cLearning the terrain in advance of a mission or viewing what a soldier is seeing in the operations center provides an important edge for improving combat outcomes.\u201d\r\n\r\nThroughout the event, participants used the common operational picture provided by GIS to synchronize perspectives between people in the operations center and the field. While GIS proved beneficial, there was also an ongoing reminder that technology is just an enabler\u2014that it's about the human applications of technologies, not just about the technology itself.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe really want to help promote the connectivity and bring pockets of innovation together,\u201d the lead interoperability engineersaid. \u201cI believe we\u2019ve helped accelerate solutions to the warfighter, and that\u2019s really what this event is set up to do.\u201d\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nRead part 1 about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/us-navy-puts-tactical-tools-to-the-test\/\">preparations for the exercise<\/a>, and part 2 about integrating technologies into a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/us-navy-integrates-diverse-intelligence-technologies\/\">common operational picture<\/a>. Learn how GIS is being applied to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/public-safety\/solutions\/law-enforcement\">national security<\/a>.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nPhoto courtesy of US Navy."}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>US Navy Aims to Reduce Warfighter\u2019s Cognitive Load<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The US Navy\u2019s Innovation Battle Lab provides an important test for today\u2019s technology to help reduce the soldier&#039;s cognitive load.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/us-navy-aims-to-reduce-warfighters-cognitive-load\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" 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