Using VUE software solutions unveiled today by Silicon Graphics, U.S. Air Force researchers are fusing together visual information to better equip decision-makers to assess growing volumes of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance data.
At the Air Force Research Laboratory in Mesa, AZ, experts in the Human Effectiveness Directorate (from Arizona and Ohio) have built working models of visualization concepts designed to transform "information overload" into actionable insights. Researchers say the goal is to use visual information to develop tools and techniques that will enable leaders to make more informed decisions.
For this, AFRL turned to FusionVUE software, part of SGIs new VUE suite of visualization software that change the way people create, distribute, and use visual information. Researchers began working with the technology behind FusionVUE software in early 2007, and the lab designed and implemented the FusionVUE infrastructure in close collaboration with SGI Professional Services. As of now, the lab has scaled its use of FusionVUE to include 26 diverse information sources.
The environment is powered by three Silicon Graphics Virtu visualization systems, a Sony 4K projection system, and an HD video wall. Silicon Graphics engineers integrated the solution with contractor L-3 Communications.
With the ability to integrate any kind of visual information in any combination from any source, FusionVUE software has enabled AFRL to produce working models of three groundbreaking new concepts. In one knowledge glyph application, an interactive 3-D environment simulates a battlespace centered around unmanned aerial vehicles
. Throughout the environment are icons -- or glyphs -- that represent aircraft. Drawing from multiple data sources and platforms, AFRL is demonstrating the ability to feed vital information to each glyph, such as the status of an aircraft, its current crew, and its maintenance logs. That knowledge, which might come from disparate databases located nearby or around the world, creates a unique, real-time VUE of the battlespace.
In its research lab, AFRL has also created a command and control research environment with current mission software and 14 workstations. Using FusionVUE software, AFRL is able to VUE all of these sources in a single interactive 3-D VUEspace environment displayed via a Sony 4K projection system. Each window in the VUEspace is live, interactive, and real time. Researchers said the application may allow commanders to more effectively monitor and respond to conditions as they occur.
FusionVUE software also enables researchers to reconfigure data ingests on the fly, so the lab's workstations can access different applications and visual information as needs change. Known to researchers as "dial-a-room," the environment allows team members to manage dozens of data ingest sources with a limited number of workstations. Researchers dynamically select which visual information will be displayed within FusionVUE, based on current needs.
MORE INFO
L-3 Communications l-3com.com
SGI sgi.com
Sony sony.com/government
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