Instrumentation to Enhance DoD-Relevant Research on Cognitive Workload in UAVs, Image, Exploitation, and Spatial Hearing

摘要

The project goals have been to provide enhanced real-time graphics generation capacity, computational power, and real-time audio signal processing capability for the Virtual Environment Research, Interactive Technology, And Simulation (VERITAS) facility, making it better suited to the demands of DoD- relevant research projects on human performance in complex environments. VERITAS is owned by Wright State University, but housed at Wright-Patterson AFB. It includes a CAVE(Trademark), which is an immersive, wide field-of-view, stereoscopic, real-time interactive display system, allowing the user to move through virtual environments with minimal encumbrances. The CAVE(Trademark) is controlled by a Silicon Graphics Onyx(trademark) computer with InfiniteReality(Trademark) graphics. The high-fidelity simulations in this facility allow a variety of questions related to human effectiveness to be addressed. The DURIP funds were used to purchase three, high-performance computer subsystems: a multiprocessor computational subsystem, a graphics generation subsystem, and an acoustics generation subsystem. These subsystems provide critical capabilities for computationally intensive, real-time- constrained applications, including simulation, virtual environments, auditory and visual displays, motor control, and human perception and cognition. This instrumentation has supported specific funded DoD projects investigating: (1) display and control representations for UAV operation, and (2) binaural and spatial hearing.