Challenge: Cognitive Performance Enhancement

Challenge Statement

Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) personnel need to process huge volume of information presented by complex information environments, often under stressful conditions. Therefore, the Department of National Defence (DND) requires the means to support CAF personnel in their use of at least one of the following: augmented reality environments, advanced interactive visualization, or enhanced vision (including extensions of the visible spectrum).

Background and Context

Every individual has a limited capacity to understand their environment. CAF personnel are expected on a routine basis to deal with information environments which are extraordinarily complex, or which exceed human sensory capabilities.

DND seeks ways to enhance cognitive capabilities to help CAF personnel in the completion of complex tasks requiring extended cognitive abilities. The approach need not be tied to specific means. Rather it must focus on the goal of improvement of human cognitive capabilities, and the measurement of those improvements in terms of task performance, dynamic workload, and memory in a real-world setting. The approach may employ technological adjuncts, including the smart use of compact computational devices, ubiquitous pervasive computing (ubicomp), or portable schemes for augmented reality, applications to the problems of enhanced wayfinding for the individual, and enhanced vision (including extension of the perceivable spectrum). The human factors of large database visualization are especially important.

Outcomes and considerations

The desired outcome is a demonstration of the support of cognitive capabilities in human comprehension of unique information environments. Such support will be based on approaches such as the appreciation of realistic augmented reality environments, the interactive visualization of massive databases, perception of the results of broad-spectrum image fusion, or enhanced wayfinding ability with sharpened situational awareness. Engineering development of such environments is not the purpose of this effort. Still, the information environment for the demonstration should be as realistic and operationally relevant as possible. Outcomes will be as follows:

1. The cognitive abilities to be enhanced (i.e., short-term visual memory, span of logical reasoning) will be made specific, and their relevance to environmental tasks will be described in detail.
2. The improvement of these specific cognitive tasks will be demonstrated in realistic (near-real-world) scenarios.
3. The correlation between cognitive measures and task performance will be assessed.
4. The persistence and retention of these changes will be assessed after treatment, in terms of weeks and months. The use of effects which produce a savings in capacity over time is preferred to manipulations which require prolonged or continuous treatment.

The improvement of these specific cognitive tasks must be demonstrated in realistic (near-real-world) tasks that capture some of the conditions which prevail in military operations. These conditions include high workload, short deadlines, austere physical environments, and the need to ensure information security. The realism of the environment, whether a physical environment or an information environment, is of prime importance.

This proposal is agnostic to the technology to be applied. The research must follow Tri-Council standards of ethics.