Design Interactive, Inc. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: Recent work in neuroscience has utilized physiological indicators to predict team cognitiv

Description

Recent work in neuroscience has utilized physiological indicators to predict team cognitive readiness by evaluating synchrony in the cognitive activity of operators during team tasks. However, since the nature of most modern teams is such that team members are distributed and each operator predominantly focuses on his individual responsibilities, while information is passed between team members on an as-needed basis, these indicators are only applicable in team tasks where the individual-level cognitive building blocks are similar to their manifestation at the team level (i.e., isomorphic). In order to gauge emergence of team synergy effects and nonisomorphic team cognitive readiness, the herein-proposed System for Detection and Evaluation of Team Coordination and Team Readiness (DETECT-R) will evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency at team coordination points by analyzing neural, cognitive and behavioral indicators of transactive memory, a form of cognition that encompasses a collective awareness of who knows what, and the cognitive effort of maintaining a Shared Mental Model. Specifially, a sensor suite comprised of eye tracking and EEG sensors will be used to gather implicit readiness indicators that will be combined with explicit measures collected from users and the system to detect team cognitive readiness problems and identify their root cause.