Using an augmented training event to collect data for future modeling purposes

Abstract

During materiel development, limitations of soldiers and their interactions with tasks and equipment are often inadequately considered until after product development. This can result in poor requirements generation and thus inadequate specifications [1]. These flaws have produced the largest cost driver in acquisition programs: performance requirement changes [2]. The Army has begun work to incorporate the human dimension into future materiel development of both equipment and training systems. Modeling and Simulation (M&S) have been viewed as ways to train soldiers and to predict performance before money has been invested in creating and fielding new products. The success of early M&S in reducing cost hinges on understanding how the human, task, and equipment work together and impact each other. In addition, their relationship must be linked to cognitive aspects of performance, especially under high arousal conditions. The Army currently lacks a way to describe these relationships. The goal of this project is to create a methodology to define the data needed to describe the relationship between levels of stress or arousal and soldier performance using a live training event. The methodology should provide the training and modeling communities with information on gaps in their technologies that prevent effective training or accurate predictive analysis through modeling efforts. The methodology will also help define measures of performance needed to assess training and correctly model performance.