Comics as a Cognitive Training Medium for Expert Decision Making

Experts such as military commanders must make decisions quickly and under deadly conditions. A variety of cognitive training media exist, from Powerpoint to virtual reality (VR) simulations; however, there are alternative media that have not yet been comprehensively studied for expert decision making training. In this study, the researcher has examined the use of comics as an alternative to current cognitive training media. In Experiment 1, naval submariners were shown a text-based medium or comic strip and asked to make a decision about the scenario after viewing. The scenario was derived from a situation that submariners were somewhat familiar with but could not predict. In Experiment 2, the level of comic symbolic abstraction was manipulated across three separate comic strips. Results showed that submariners\u27 decision making ability scores were not superior and response times were not faster with comic media than text-based media. Results also did not show superior scores with lower levels of symbolic abstraction. View time for comics was significantly faster than text-based media for Experiment 1. Several post-hoc results for decision making ability scores and response times were also significant. Post-hoc results showed that submariners\u27 decision making ability scores between comic media and text-based media for Experiment 1 were equivalent at the 90% confidence intervals and were equivalent at the 95% confidence intervals for Experiment 2. Speed was equivalent at the 98% confidence intervals for both Experiment 1 and 2. View time was also equivalent at the 98% confidence intervals for Experiment 2. Comics have shown to be an alternative to current cognitive training media. The findings show that comics have the potential to meet the needs of the diverse military population for rapid and comprehensive soldier training

Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems Technologies and Operations

As the quarter-century mark in the 21st Century nears, new aviation-related equipment has come to the forefront, both to help us and to haunt us. (Coutu, 2020) This is particularly the case with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). These vehicles have grown in popularity and accessible to everyone. Of different shapes and sizes, they are widely available for purchase at relatively low prices. They have moved from the backyard recreation status to important tools for the military, intelligence agencies, and corporate organizations. New practical applications such as military equipment and weaponry are announced on a regular basis – globally. (Coutu, 2020) Every country seems to be announcing steps forward in this bludgeoning field. In our successful 2nd edition of Unmanned Aircraft Systems in the Cyber Domain: Protecting USA’s Advanced Air Assets (Nichols, et al., 2019), the authors addressed three factors influencing UAS phenomena. First, unmanned aircraft technology has seen an economic explosion in production, sales, testing, specialized designs, and friendly / hostile usages of deployed UAS / UAVs / Drones. There is a huge global growing market and entrepreneurs know it. Second, hostile use of UAS is on the forefront of DoD defense and offensive planners. They are especially concerned with SWARM behavior. Movies like “Angel has Fallen,” where drones in a SWARM use facial recognition technology to kill USSS agents protecting POTUS, have built the lore of UAS and brought the problem forefront to DHS. Third, UAS technology was exploding. UAS and Counter- UAS developments in navigation, weapons, surveillance, data transfer, fuel cells, stealth, weight distribution, tactics, GPS / GNSS elements, SCADA protections, privacy invasions, terrorist uses, specialized software, and security protocols has exploded. (Nichols, et al., 2019) Our team has followed / tracked joint ventures between military and corporate entities and specialized labs to build UAS countermeasures. As authors, we felt compelled to address at least the edge of some of the new C-UAS developments. It was clear that we would be lucky if we could cover a few of – the more interesting and priority technology updates – all in the UNCLASSIFIED and OPEN sphere. Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Technologies and Operations is the companion textbook to our 2nd edition. The civilian market is interesting and entrepreneurial, but the military and intelligence markets are of concern because the US does NOT lead the pack in C-UAS technologies. China does. China continues to execute its UAS proliferation along the New Silk Road Sea / Land routes (NSRL). It has maintained a 7% growth in military spending each year to support its buildup. (Nichols, et al., 2019) [Chapter 21]. They continue to innovate and have recently improved a solution for UAS flight endurance issues with the development of advanced hydrogen fuel cell. (Nichols, et al., 2019) Reed and Trubetskoy presented a terrifying map of countries in the Middle East with armed drones and their manufacturing origin. Guess who? China. (A.B. Tabriski & Justin, 2018, December) Our C-UAS textbook has as its primary mission to educate and train resources who will enter the UAS / C-UAS field and trust it will act as a call to arms for military and DHS planners.https://newprairiepress.org/ebooks/1031/thumbnail.jp

Virtual aids to navigation

There are many examples of master, bridge crew and pilot errors in navigation causing grounding under adverse circumstances that were known and published in official notices and records. Also dangerous are hazards to navigation resulting from dynamic changes within the marine environment, inadequate surveys and charts. This research attempts to reduce grounding and allision incidents and increase safety of navigation by expanding mariner situational awareness at and below the waterline using new technology and developing methods for the creation, implementation and display of Virtual Aids to Navigation (AtoN) and related navigation information. This approach has widespread significance beyond commonly encountered navigation situations. Increased vessel navigation activity in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions engenders risk due, in part, to the inability to place navigational aids and buoys in constantly changing ice conditions. Similar conditions exist in tropical regions where sinker placement to moor buoys in sensitive environmental areas with coral reefs is problematic. Underdeveloped regions also lack assets and infrastructure needed to provide adequate navigation services, and infrastructure can also rapidly perish in developed regions during times of war and natural disaster. This research exploits rapidly developing advances in environmental sensing technology, evolving capabilities and improved methods for reporting real time environmental data that can substantially expand electronic navigation aid availability and improve knowledge of undersea terrain and imminent hazards to navigation that may adversely affect ship operations. This is most needed in areas where physical aids to navigation are scarce or non-existent as well as in areas where vessel traffic is congested. Research to expand related vessel capabilities is accomplished to overcome limitations in existing and planned electronic aids, expanding global capabilities and resources at relatively low-cost. New methods for sensor fusion are also explored to vi reduce overall complexity and improve integration with other navigation systems with the goal of simplifying navigation tasks. An additional goal is to supplement training program content by expanding technical resources and capabilities within the confines of existing International Convention on Standards for Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) requirements, while improving safety by providing new techniques to enhance situational awareness

Cyber-Human Systems, Space Technologies, and Threats

CYBER-HUMAN SYSTEMS, SPACE TECHNOLOGIES, AND THREATS is our eighth textbook in a series covering the world of UASs / CUAS/ UUVs / SPACE. Other textbooks in our series are Space Systems Emerging Technologies and Operations; Drone Delivery of CBNRECy – DEW Weapons: Emerging Threats of Mini-Weapons of Mass Destruction and Disruption (WMDD); Disruptive Technologies with applications in Airline, Marine, Defense Industries; Unmanned Vehicle Systems & Operations On Air, Sea, Land; Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems Technologies and Operations; Unmanned Aircraft Systems in the Cyber Domain: Protecting USA’s Advanced Air Assets, 2nd edition; and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the Cyber Domain Protecting USA’s Advanced Air Assets, 1st edition. Our previous seven titles have received considerable global recognition in the field. (Nichols & Carter, 2022) (Nichols, et al., 2021) (Nichols R. K., et al., 2020) (Nichols R. , et al., 2020) (Nichols R. , et al., 2019) (Nichols R. K., 2018) (Nichols R. K., et al., 2022)https://newprairiepress.org/ebooks/1052/thumbnail.jp

The use of novel information technology in military medicine and mass casualty situation training

Tässä väitöskirjatyössä tutkitaan uuden mobiiliteknologian käyttöä sotilaslääketieteen ja suuronnettomuustilanteiden koulutuksessa. Yhteenvetona voidaan todeta, että uudesta informaatioteknologiasta on paljon hyötyä sekä pedagogisesti että teknisesti sotilaslääketieteellisessä koulutuksessa ja suuronnettomuustilanteiden lääkinnällisessä valmiudessa. Tutkimukseen valittiin seuraavat uudet informaatioteknologiat: lyhyet videoleikkeet (multimedia), mobiilit lääketieteen tietokannat ja RFID-teknologia (Radio frequency identification, radiotaajuinen etätunnistus). Sotilaslääketiede on osa kansallista terveydenhuollon järjestelmää, jossa tällaista tekniikkaa varten on eritystarpeita, kun kehitetään ensiavun ja ensihoidon opetusta kliinisesti vaativissa tilanteissa. Lääkintäaliupseerikurssin oppilaat (N=60) satunnaistettiin käyttämään joko kurkunpääputkea (LT), n=30 tai kurkunpäämaskia (ILMA), n=30. Kurkunpääputken (LT) sai onnistuneesti 10 kertaa peräkkäin paikoilleen 100 % ja kurkunpäämaskin (ILMA) 93,1 % oppilaista. Keskimäärin ensimmäinen onnistunut suoritus kesti hieman yli 20 sekuntia kummallakin menetelmällä, ja 10 suorituksen keskiarvo oli hieman yli 10 sekuntia. Kokemattomat ja kouluttamattomat lääkintäaliupseerikurssin oppilaat voivat oppia lyhyen videoleikkeen avulla varmistamaan hengitystiet kurkunpääputkella (LT) tai kurkunpäänaamarilla (ILMA) simuloidussa tilanteessa. VAS-asteikolla mitattu itsearviointi varmisti, että suoritus koettiin helpoksi. Mobiilia lääketieteen tietojärjestelmää ja sen käyttöä verrattiin lääketieteen opiskelijoiden ja varusmiespalvelustaan suorittavien lääkäreiden kesken. Tämä tutkimus on auttanut ymmärtämään sitä, miten nämä kaksi ryhmää käyttävät mobiilia lääketieteellistä tietojärjestelmää. Samalla se tarjoaa oivalluksia joihinkin pedagogisiin eroihin näiden kahden ryhmän välillä. Ryhmien väliset erot eivät kuitenkaan olleet tilastollisesti merkitseviä. Tutkimuksissa RFID-järjestelmä osoittautui toimivaksi. Verrattaessa järjestelmää tällä hetkellä käytettävään järjestelmään se paransi ratkaisevasti lääkinnällisen pelastustoiminnan valmiutta. Järjestelmä voidaan mukauttaa ilman vaikeuksia siviilialan suuronnettomuus- ja katastrofitilanteiden hallintaan. Testattu järjestelmä toteutettiin kaupallisesti saatavilla olevalla teknologialla (RFID ja matkapuhelinteknologia). Järjestelmän suoria hyötyjä ja sen toistettavuutta verrattiin suuronnettomuudessa käytettäviin paperisiin potilasluokittelukortteihin kahdessa erillisessä simuloidussa suuronnettomuustilanteessa Suomessa ja Ruotsissa. Molemmissa oli mukana monia viranomaistahoja. RFID-pohjainen järjestelmä, jossa potilaat luokiteltiin kiireellisyysluokkiin (triage) käyttämällä matkapuhelinjärjestelmää, lähetti välittömästi ja automaattisesti tilannetiedon harjoituksen johtoon ja sairaalaan. Molempien potilastietojärjestelmien avulla voitiin mitata tilannetietoisuuden kehittymistä suuronnettomuudessa siten, että verrattiin paperisista potilasluokittelukorteista saatua tietoa kännykän avulla saatuihin potilasluokittelutietoihin hoitoketjun eri vaiheissa. RFID-järjestelmä osoittautui helppokäyttöiseksi ja se paransi merkittävästi suuronnettomuuksien hallintaa ja tilannetietoisuutta. Koordinoivat yksiköt saivat RFID-järjestelmällä tietoja uhrien kiireellisyysluokista ja sijainnista yli tuntia aikaisemmin kuin perinteisellä menetelmällä. RFID-järjestelmä on helppokäyttöinen, nopea ja vakaa. Se osoittautui saumattomasti toimivaksi jopa ankarissa kenttäolosuhteissa. RFID-järjestelmä ylitti kaikilta osin perinteisen järjestelmän. Se tehosti merkitsevästi lääkinnällisen pelastustoiminnan organisatorista valmiutta.In developed countries, novel information technologies have become an essential part of education in modern healthcare field. However, using these expensive and continuously developing technologies is often a challenge both for trainers and for students. In military medicine, as a part of national healthcare services, there are special needs for this kind of technology, especially when optimizing first aid and initial treatment in challenging field situations. The purpose of this thesis was to study the use of novel information mobile technologies in the training for military medicine and mass casualty situations. Methods chosen were short video clips, mobile medical information system (IS) and radio frequency identification technology (RFID). Short video clips are potentially applicable as educational material in teaching advanced airway management and as the first means of introducing the use of a laryngeal tube (LT) or an intubating laryngeal mask (ILMA) to inexperienced military first-responder trainees with no prior hands-on experience. In a study, sixty medical non-commissioned officers were randomly assigned into one of two groups: the LT- and the ILMA-group. After viewing the video clips, the trainees were required to perform 10 consecutive, successful insertions of the given instrument into a manikin. The goal of 10 consecutive successful insertions was attained by all 30 subjects in the LT-group, and by 27 of 29 subjects in the ILMA-group with a maximum of 30 attempts. Satisfactory to good skill levels can be achieved with the applied video-clip demonstration method, even in inexperienced first-responder trainees lacking previous hands-on experience. Self-assessment measured by VAS score showed that the performance felt easy. A mobile medical information system (IS) was compared between civilian medical students and physicians undergoing compulsory military service in Finland. Special emphasis was placed on differences in system usage and perceptions towards the mobile medical IS. Other points of interest were the important features of the mobile medical system, advantages and disadvantages of using the system in actual emergency situations and use of the device to search for general information. A questionnaire was handed to both sixth-year medical students at the University of Oulu, as well to medical students of similar academic level undergoing their military service. The two groups were found to have similar approaches towards the mobile system in different contexts. The results have helped to develop an understanding of how the two groups of users use a mobile medical information system while also providing insight into some behavioral differences between them. Not all of the differences were significant; indicating the possibility of developing a universal tool for both military and with some civilian application, but with supplemental content in military medicine for military medical officers (MO). When reporting on the possibility of the development of a universal tool for both military and civilian use, MO`s said that they would have liked to complement the mobile medical information system with military medical data. The applicability of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and commercial cellular networks designed to provide an online triage system for handling civilian mass casualty situations was tested during a military field exercise. The system proved to be usable. Compared to the current system in use, it dramatically improved the general view of mass casualty situations and enhances medical emergency readiness in this military medical setting. The system can be adapted without any difficulties by the civilian sector for the management of disasters. The feasibility and the direct benefits of the system were evaluated in two separate, simulated civilian mass-casualty situations; one in Finland involving a passenger ship accident and another at a major airport in Sweden with a plane crash scenario. Both simulations involved multiple authorities and functioned as a test setting for comparing the disaster management s situational awareness using the RFID -based system, where triage was done using both a mobile phone system with information sent automatically to the situation command center and the hospital, alongside a traditional method using paper triage tags. The development of situational awareness could be measured directly by comparing the availability of up-to date information at different points in the care chain with both systems. The RFID system proved easy to use, quick and stabile, and improved the situational awareness for the disaster management significantly. Information about the numbers and status of casualties was available for the coordinating units over an hour earlier in comparison to the traditional method. Results surpassed the traditional systems in all respects. It also dramatically improved the general view of mass casualty situations and enhanced medical emergency readiness in a multi-organizational medical setting. The novel information technologies addressed here are of great value both pedagogically and technically in medical training in military medicine and mass casualty situations

Proceedings of the 2004 ONR Decision-Support Workshop Series: Interoperability

In August of 1998 the Collaborative Agent Design Research Center (CADRC) of the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly), approached Dr. Phillip Abraham of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) with the proposal for an annual workshop focusing on emerging concepts in decision-support systems for military applications. The proposal was considered timely by the ONR Logistics Program Office for at least two reasons. First, rapid advances in information systems technology over the past decade had produced distributed collaborative computer-assistance capabilities with profound potential for providing meaningful support to military decision makers. Indeed, some systems based on these new capabilities such as the Integrated Marine Multi-Agent Command and Control System (IMMACCS) and the Integrated Computerized Deployment System (ICODES) had already reached the field-testing and final product stages, respectively. Second, over the past two decades the US Navy and Marine Corps had been increasingly challenged by missions demanding the rapid deployment of forces into hostile or devastate dterritories with minimum or non-existent indigenous support capabilities. Under these conditions Marine Corps forces had to rely mostly, if not entirely, on sea-based support and sustainment operations. Particularly today, operational strategies such as Operational Maneuver From The Sea (OMFTS) and Sea To Objective Maneuver (STOM) are very much in need of intelligent, near real-time and adaptive decision-support tools to assist military commanders and their staff under conditions of rapid change and overwhelming data loads. In the light of these developments the Logistics Program Office of ONR considered it timely to provide an annual forum for the interchange of ideas, needs and concepts that would address the decision-support requirements and opportunities in combined Navy and Marine Corps sea-based warfare and humanitarian relief operations. The first ONR Workshop was held April 20-22, 1999 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in San Luis Obispo, California. It focused on advances in technology with particular emphasis on an emerging family of powerful computer-based tools, and concluded that the most able members of this family of tools appear to be computer-based agents that are capable of communicating within a virtual environment of the real world. From 2001 onward the venue of the Workshop moved from the West Coast to Washington, and in 2003 the sponsorship was taken over by ONR’s Littoral Combat/Power Projection (FNC) Program Office (Program Manager: Mr. Barry Blumenthal). Themes and keynote speakers of past Workshops have included: 1999: ‘Collaborative Decision Making Tools’ Vadm Jerry Tuttle (USN Ret.); LtGen Paul Van Riper (USMC Ret.);Radm Leland Kollmorgen (USN Ret.); and, Dr. Gary Klein (KleinAssociates) 2000: ‘The Human-Computer Partnership in Decision-Support’ Dr. Ronald DeMarco (Associate Technical Director, ONR); Radm CharlesMunns; Col Robert Schmidle; and, Col Ray Cole (USMC Ret.) 2001: ‘Continuing the Revolution in Military Affairs’ Mr. Andrew Marshall (Director, Office of Net Assessment, OSD); and,Radm Jay M. Cohen (Chief of Naval Research, ONR) 2002: ‘Transformation ... ’ Vadm Jerry Tuttle (USN Ret.); and, Steve Cooper (CIO, Office ofHomeland Security) 2003: ‘Developing the New Infostructure’ Richard P. Lee (Assistant Deputy Under Secretary, OSD); and, MichaelO’Neil (Boeing) 2004: ‘Interoperability’ MajGen Bradley M. Lott (USMC), Deputy Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command; Donald Diggs, Director, C2 Policy, OASD (NII

Affordance-based task communication methods for astronaut-robot cooperation

The problem with current human-robot task communication is that robots cannot understand complex human speech utterances, while humans cannot efficiently use the fixed task request utterances required by robots. Nonetheless, future planetary exploration missions are expected to require astronauts on extra-vehicular activities to communicate task requests to robot assistants with speech- and gesture-type user interfaces that can be easily embedded in their space suits. The solution proposed in this thesis is indirect task communication based on the human-like ability to utilise object-action relationships in task communication. Conventional task communication methods, in which all task parameters need to be communicated explicitly, are evaluated against task communication methods where affordances, i.e. action possibilities, are used to complete task communication. These so-called affordance-based task communication methods are evaluated by means of four user experiments: two performed with a fully autonomous centauroid robot in a planetary exploration work context and two with a simulated robot in a lander assembly work context. The first two experiments are performed in unambiguous work environments, where each object is associated with only one action and vice versa, while the last two experiments are performed in ambiguous work environments, where each object and action is normally associated with several actions and objects, respectively. The user experiments show that affordance-based task communication methods can be used to decrease both the human workload and task communication times in a planetary exploration work context. Furthermore, affordance-based task communication methods are found to be preferred over conventional task communication methods. The affordance-based task communication methods derived can be applied to facilitate any human-robot task communication that includes a priori known or recurring task sequences. In this thesis, the feasibility of the approach was demonstrated for frame-based dialogue managers, which are widely used in robotics

Test and evaluation of a prototyped sensor-camera network for persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance in support of tactical coalition networking environments

This thesis investigated the feasibility of deploying an integrated sensor-camera network in military and law enforcement applications. The system was built using entirely commercial-off-the-shelf technologies. The prototype used the unattended ground sensors combined with digital video surveillance cameras to provide accurate real-time situational awareness, persistent intelligence and remote security. A robust testing and evaluation plan was created to measure the system's performance based on specific metrics. The tests focused primarily on the capabilities of the sensor aspect of the network. Tests were conducted to determine the maximum detection range, probabilities of detection, maximum communications range, and battery life. Mathematical models were created to assist network planners. Additionally, the prototyped system was tested through field exercises as part of the Naval Postgraduate School's Coalition Operating Area Surveillance and Targeting System field demonstrations in California and northern Thailand. Although the sensing capabilities exceeded the minimum metrics, the system was not suitable for use in military applications. However, the prototyped network would work well in less demanding law enforcement environments. Additionally, the feasibility and the need to develop an integrated sensor-camera network were demonstrated.http://archive.org/details/testndevaluation109452780US Navy (USN) author.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited