Jeff Hansberger

Army Research Laboratory | ALC · Human Research and Engineering Directorate (HRED)

The values of VR and multimodal interaction technologies offer creative, virtual alternatives to manipulate a large data set in a virtual environment. This work presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of a real-time multimodal interaction framework that enables users to navigate, select, and move data elements. The novel multimodal fusi...

Variable responses to transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) protocols across individuals are widely reported, but the reasons behind this variation are unclear. This includes tDCS protocols meant to improve attention. Attentional control is impacted by top-down and bottom-up processes, and this relationship is affected by state characteris...

Hand gestures are a natural and intuitive form for human-environment interaction and can be used as an input alternative in human-computer interaction (HCI) to enhance usability and naturalness. Many existing approaches have employed vision -based systems to detect and recognize hand gestures. However, vision-based systems usually require users to...

Background: After two decades of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) research, it is still unclear which applications benefit most from which tDCS protocols. One prospect is the acceleration of learning, where previous work has demonstrated that anodal tDCS applied to the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (rVLPFC) is capable of doub...

In this work, we propose an end-to-end system that provides both hardware and software support for real-time gesture recognition. We apply a convolutional neural network over 3D rotation data of finger joints rather than over vision-based data, in order to extract high-level intentions (features) users are trying to convey. A pair of customized mot...

Virtual reality (VR) technologies have opened new possibilities for creating engaging educational games. This paper presents a serious VR game that immerses players into the activities of lunar exploration missions in a virtual environment. We designed and implemented the VR game with the goal of increasing players’ interest in space science. The g...

Continuing advances in multimodal technology, machine learning, and virtual reality are providing the means to explore and develop multimodal interfaces that are faster, more accurate, and more meaningful in the interactions they support. This paper describes an ongoing effort to develop an interface using input from voice, hand gestures, and eye g...

Background: Transcranial Ultrasound Stimulation (tUS) is an emerging technique that uses ultrasonic waves to noninvasively modulate brain activity. As with other forms of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS), tUS may be useful for altering cortical excitability and neuroplasticity for a variety of research and clinical applications. The effects of...

Technology advancements in unmanned aerial systems have provided greater levels of autonomy to the extent that it has fundamentally changed the operator’s task and information requirements. This research has applied a task analysis driven approach to identify these information requirements and generated new information visualizations to more effect...

Recent advances in technology have made virtual environments, virtual reality, augmented reality, and simulations more affordable and accessible to researchers, companies, and the general public, which has led to many novel use cases and applications. A key objective of human factors research and practice is determining how these technology-rich ap...

The use of gestures as a way to interact with computer systems has shown promise as a natural way to interact and manipulate digital information. However, users performing mid-air gestures for even moderate periods of time experience arm fatigue and discomfort, earning its name of the gorilla arm syndrome. Based on the natural use of hands during c...

We describe the experimental methodology developed and employed in a series of experiments within the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Conflict Modeling, Planning, and Outcomes Exploration (COMPOEX) Program. The primary purpose of the effort was development of tools and methods for analysis, planning and predictive assessment of pl...

This chapter concerns the use of virtual worlds and web 2.0 technologies for on-line collaborative activities. The potential of this combination of technologies lies in the complementary notions of presence that these technologies offer their users. After discussing this idea, the nature of distributed collaboration and the implications this has fo...

Longitudinal communication data are needed to understand the dynamics, adaptation, and evolution of networks over time, particularly when the mode of interaction is face-to-face communication. Traditional means of collecting communication and interaction data that include questionnaires are often not appropriate for collecting this type of dynamic...

A framework is described for developing and deploying procedural knowledge in emergency situations where collaboration is needed. In this framework, procedural knowledge is represented in a wiki using an informal, textual description that's marked up with formal tags based on the I-N-C-A representation for hierarchical task networks used in AI plan...

This paper concerns the use of new media technologies, including virtual worlds and web 2.0, for on-line collaborative activities, and specifically for the provision of expert advice about the response to large-scale crises. Internet technologies in general offer rich possibilities for interactions involving remote experts; however, the diversity,...

Crisis response situations require collaboration across many different organizations with different backgrounds, training, procedures and objectives. The response to the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004 and the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in 2005 emphasized the importance of effective communication and collaboration. Compounding the challenges ass...

Identifying critical personnel has been a problem of interest for sometime as organizations seek to optimize their advantage and disrupt their adversary. This problem has become more difficult with the increasing use of network centric organizations as these organizations have flexible structures that can produce significant shifts of critical pers...

One of the challenges faced by the Army and other U.S. military services, including the Joint Forces Command, is getting the right information to the right individuals at the right time. General James E. Cartwright, U.S. Marine Corps, highlighted this point before the Strategic Forces Subcommittee on Space Policy, 16 March 2005, as he stated, "Crit...

The distributed cognitive framework (Hutchins, 1995) provides a structured and theoretical approach for analyzing cognitive characteristics beyond that of a single individual to that of a system comprising of multiple individuals, tools, and the task environment. Among some of the attributes of a distributed cognitive system are: 1) coordination ac...

Distributed cognition (Hutchins, 1995a) is a theoretical framework that explains cognitive activities embodied and situated within the work setting and the artifacts used in the environment. Distributed cognition emphasizes the distributed nature of cognitive phenomena across individuals, tools/technologies, and internal/external representations. T...

The report describes the I-X framework and its application to personnel recovery. When the I-X framework is instantiated with a domain-specific model, it is referred to as an I-X application. Such an application has been developed during the Co-OPR project for the task of personnel recovery and personnel recovery training. The I-X technology was ap...

I-X is a framework that can be used to create an application in which multiple agents adopt a task-centric view of a situation, and which supports the necessary coordination of their activities to respond to that situation. The I-X process panel provides the functionality of a to-do list and instant messaging and thus, it is a useful tool when it c...

Recent research (e.g., Siegler, 1996) has discovered the important and vital role that variability plays among strategy use and development over time. However, as many researchers have pointed out (e.g., Miller, 1993), the majority of the research addressing this issue has focused on the outcomes, rather than on the potentially more informative asp...

Commanders face many challenges in their efforts to control the battlefield. Friction (i.e., sources of delay) in the commander's control system, coupled with the dynamics of the battlefield, requires commanders to act before threatening battlefield events occur. Effective control of the battlefield thus requires accurate predictions. This paper de...

The challenges facing the military due to adversaries, new battlegrounds, and everchanging technology requires innovative, fast, and efficient means to conduct and support research. The Army Research Laboratory has developed a modeling environment, C3TRACE (Command, Control, and Communication ? Techniques for Reliable Assessment of Concept Executio...

The ACT-R cognitive architecture has been used successfully to model aviation crew performance during the descent phase of flight. This study extended that approach by simulating the duties of a pilot flying (PF) and Pilot Not Flying (PNF) in separate ACT-R models which then were run jointly across several executions. For each set of executions, le...

The types of strategies individuals use and how they use them over time potentially determines adaptability, their ability to learn, and their performance. The prior knowledge and experience people bring to a dynamic task can influence these task interactions. This study investigated the strategies used, strategy variability, performance, and learn...

pit (Diez et al., 2001) to inform our design decisions about what information pilots are acquiring from the flight deck while working with automated systems. It also formed the basis of a working computational cognitive model, built using the ACT-R cognitive architecture (Anderson & Lebiere, 1998). The computational model was used to fly the same d...

Prior knowledge and experience influence many of our everyday task interactions and knowledge acquisition. One way this happens is by goal choice and goal-oriented behavior. This study focused on the effects of goal variability with repeated interactions with a complex, dynamic task over several months. The effect of goal variability on knowledge a...

f actions. Based on lessons learned from this initial effort, the approach was extended to constructing a crew model with a simulated PF and Pilot Not Flying (PNF). These crew members were simulated by separate ACT-R models based on a cognitive task analysis of the duties for each person. The simulated task scenario was the time period just before...

Abstract The assessment of pilot performance relies on systematic observation and assessment by a single trained rater or instructor/evaluator (I/E). Due to the importance of aviat ion safety, it is imperative that the rating and evaluation processes used by these I/Es yield reliable and valid data. This paper describes a case study focused on impr...

ction and possible mitigation. In this project, we have built two computational models -- one to represent single pilot performance and one to represent crew performance. Both models have been built from prior cognitive task analyses coupled with empirical performance data. To make the task analyses tractable, we needed to focus on a particular asp...

Many questions remain unanswered concerning how individuals obtain and acquire expertise in dynamic task domains. This study investigates how the type of goals used in driving situations affect driving experience and expertise. Past research suggests that the quantity of experience alone is not sufficient to accurately predict driving expertise. It...

Although automation has benefits for commercial aviation, it has led to undesirable consequences. One approach to understanding errors is the development and examination of cognitive models of the flying task. However, the construction of these models requires knowledge about the processes pilots use when they fly and how they acquire readings from...

This project investigated whether appropriate procedural interventions can facilitate team process and outcomes. Specific crew procedures were designed to fit general Crew Resource Management (CRM) principles and the specific needs of a commercial airline. The procedures were trained and implemented as Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for one fle...

Cockpit automation has changed the roles, responsibilities, and activities of pilots, leading to new types of errors on the flight deck. This research is focused on understanding those errors through the development of a computational cognitive model that describes how pilots interact with automated systems. The cognitive model under development is...

Aviation automation has become increasingly complex, multi-functional, and autonomous. These changes have the potential for both performance increases as well as unanticipated and undesirable side effects such as erosion of motor or cognitive skills, novel types of errors, and so forth. Specific understanding of both the positive and negative effec...

A proceduralized form of Crew Resource Management (CRM) or advanced CRM (ACRM) was designed for a regional air carrier. The regional air carrier possessed two similar fleets in which one of the fleets received the ACRM training (experimental fleet) and the other did not (control fleet). A questionnaire was distributed to the instructor/evaluators (...

Commercial pilots completed a series of tests measuring individual differences in cognitive, perceptual, and verbal skill. These data were used to describe pilot abilities relative to samples upon which the tests were normed. Further, the data were used to examine the relationships between these measured abilities and performance on maneuver valida...

Crisis response situations require collaboration across many different organizations with different backgrounds, training, procedures, and goals. The Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004 and the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in 2005 emphasized the importance of effective communication and collaboration. In the former, the Multinational Planning Augmenta...

We describe the experimental methodology developed and employed in a series of experiments within the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Conflict Modeling, Planning, and Outcomes Exploration (COMPOEX) Program. The primary purpose of the effort was the development of tools and methods for analysis, planning, and predictive assessment...

Instructor/Evaluators (I/Es) must accurately understand the structure and content of the evaluation tool to evaluate pilots reliably and validly. This study examines how accurately I/E expectations about their evaluations correspond to their actual evaluations. Discrepancies were found between the I/Es' expectations and their actual evaluations. Es...