SoarTech presents paper showcasing innovative, AI-driven solutions to help warfighters
Dr. Randolph M. Jones, Soar Technology (SoarTech) co-founder, presented the paper, “Automated Decision Support for Collaborative, Interactive Classification,” during the Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE) conference in San Francisco, California, July 20-24, 2023. The paper he presented was co-written by SoarTech team members Robert Bixler, Robert Marinier III, Ph.D. and Lilia Moshkins, Ph.D., as well as Jones, himself.
The AHFE conference is a major event for professionals in the fields of human factors and ergonomics. The conference provides attendees with opportunities to present and explore the latest academic and industry developments, with a special focus on improving design and interaction between humans and technology.
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in human factors research is set to play a significant role in the development of future technology, and it offered the conference special value because AI research provides innovative solutions to difficult challenges in the study of human factors. These AI-driven solutions improve the user’s experience, optimize human-machine interaction, enhance performance, and improve safety and trust by allowing innovators to create interactive interfaces, smart systems, and decision-support tools.
The “Automated Decision” paper describes the development and evaluation of the Logical Reasoner, the primary reasoning component of the “Intelligent Sensing to prObe and Localize Adversaries in Threatening Environments” (ISOLATE) system, developed and tested under DARPA’s URSA program.
SoarTech is developing this system to benefit warfighters operating in complex urban environments by helping mission commanders identify individuals in local populations who are most or least likely to present an imminent threat. Physically, the ISOLATE system takes the form of – and collects data through – stationary and mobile cameras on autonomous air and ground platforms; robots that also interact with people to understand and analyze behaviors and actions. ISOLATE processes the data collected to determine spatial relationships and human activities to better assist mission commanders in making threat/non-threat judgments of people observed in an operating area.
“This year’s conference was an exceptional platform for the exchange of cutting-edge research and advancements,” said Dr. Dylan Schmorrow, the conference’s plenary session chair, who is also SoarTech’s chief technology officer. “The paper Dr. Jones presented featured innovative, AI-driven solutions and sparked insightful discussions among industry professionals. I was honored to be part of this event, and I believe SoarTech really benefits from the exposure and recognition derived from contributions like ISOLATE that further solidify our commitment to advancing the field and driving transformative progress.”
