Dylan D. Schmorrow, Ph.D., CDR, MSC, USN
Abstract
Virtual Environment technologies have evolved faster than our ability to understand and evaluate their effectiveness for training. Our military is fielding multi-million dollar Virtual Environments without fully understanding what features lead to training transfer.
The military wants the Holodeck for training Infantry and they want it yesterday. To move toward this desire, we see several trends:• Increased use of Government Owned and Open-Source software
• Modular software that allows plug and play components
• Head Mounted Displays that are wireless, lighter, and have wider field of view
• Ubiquitous tracking of body position
• Tools to detect the cognitive state of the individual and adjust training
• Tools to evaluate VE components on their training transferWe are currently fielding two Virtual Environment Infantry Immersive Trainers (IIT) to the USMC. One will be at Camp Pendleton, CA, and the second at Quantico, Virginia. We plan to use these to test and evaluate advanced VE technologies to help the military field the next generation of Infantry training systems.
About the Speaker
Dr. Dylan D. Schmorrow is a Commander in the U.S. Navy's Medical Service Corps and is an Aerospace Experimental Psychologist currently serving as the Executive Assistant to the Chief of Naval Research.
He also serves as the Director of the ONR Warfighter Enhancement Program Office leading and managing training and performance programs transforming promising science and technologies into operational capabilities.
As the Founder and Chairman of the Augmented Cognition International Society he conceived and established the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Augmented Cognition Technical Group and the Human-Computer Interaction International Conference Series International Conference on Augmented Cognition.
His research interests range from neuroscience, human-factors, training, autonomy and decision support technologies to advanced augmented cognition science, technology, systems and applications for maximizing human performance.
He frequently collaborates with the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the other DoD Services to improve naval capabilities and to support academic and industry performers in advancing science and building new technologies.