Natick Researchers Say Augmented Reality May Help Soldiers

NATICK, MA—Since soldiers, like all humans, are multi-faceted individuals, a game plan suited to their needs is essential to pulling off victory.

So, members of the Cognitive Science Team at the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, or NSRDEC, are helping soldiers bring some reality to their mission plans.

The team is investigating how augmented reality, or AR, may help soldiers improve their mission-planning skills.

"Our goal is to evaluate mobile AR as a promising candidate technology to improve mission-planning operations," said Aaron Gardony, an NSRDEC research psychologist, in a press release. "Soldiers are members of a team, but they are also multi-faceted individuals with unique preferences and aptitudes. For example, some may easily visualize three-dimensional environments from two-dimensional maps, but others may learn better using 3-D imagery. "

Researchers say that as opposed to the 2-D approach, the AR-based mission planning with 3-D maps and models gives soldiers a way to tailor their plans to fit their preferences, and those on their team. According to the announcement, doing so could improve cognitive performance at both the individual and group level, leading to improved mission-planning outcomes and, ultimately, enhanced mission effectiveness.

"Currently, mission and route planning is often performed by Soldiers located in the same place using 2-D displays, such as topographic maps, but improvements in technology have enabled new approaches," said Gardony in a statement. "Recent advances in augmented reality technology have allowed for rich, mobile and multi-user augmented reality experiences."

>>>>Read the full report from the United States Army

Photo Credit: United States Army