Physical Optics Corporation — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: A16-044

Description

To address the Armys need for a new simplified visualization paradigm, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Intelligent Unified and Intuitive Data and Information Visualization (INTUIDIV) system based on an innovative integration of three principles of content simplification: abstraction, augmentation, and registration. Abstraction transforms data or information to a familiar representation that simplifies and improves comprehension; augmentation modifies familiar symbology/iconology to convey additional information at-a-glance with minimal impact to cognitive load; and registration associates content in a spatio-temporal fashion to convey patterns and unseen correlations. The innovation in implementing these three principles in a new visualization paradigm will convey intuitive information in an analog fashion rather than comprehending quantitative information, leading to enhanced global situational awareness. When desired, the user may drill-down for additional details through contextual pop-up menus and view changes, thus allowing lower-level granular exploration as desired. In Phase I, POC plans to identify and validate methodologies for optimizing a users ability to process large amounts of data including initial quantitative performance assessment using simplified data sets and scenarios. In Phase II, POC will develop and demonstrate a prototype system that will be tested and validated through task performance assessment.