Trends in Human-Computer Interaction to Support Future Intelligence Analysis Capabilities

Abstract : Collective command and control (C2) civil-military operations impose a strong requirement for organizations and people to work collaboratively and to interact with information more efficiently. Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) technology has been evolving at a great pace during the last decade and many novel HCI concepts and tools have become of interest to support not only analysts deployed in command centers but also warfighters deployed in the field. This will have an impact on how intelligence officers will operate in the future. In this regard, Defence Research and Development (R&D) (DRDC) Canada has undertaken a major initiative to look forward into Future Intelligence Analysis Capabilities (FIAC). This paper reports on HCI trends and applicability to support the FIAC and collective C2 in general. Topics of interest include smart-room and collaborative working environments, hardware display technology (e.g. large group displays, flexible displays, wearable displays), mixed/augmented reality, mobile and ubiquitous computing, multi-modal interaction (e.g. touch tables, speech and gesture recognition), biometry, intelligent and adaptive user interfaces, and advanced information visualization that allows to analyze and comprehend multi-dimensional and complex information.