In 2006, TransLumen received one of the State of Illinois’ Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunities’ Innovative Product grants for the v-INDICATOR™ as a homeland security tool.  From the first prototypes to the development of working systems and products, the v-INDICATOR™ has been explored as a tool that can be deployed by both centralized and de-centralized operations.  

The v-INDICATOR™ can be used as an intelligence tool on land, in the air or on the seas as part of a command -  control center or on a PC, a laptop, a small mobile device or even embedded into a combat/haz-mat uniform. 

Defense industry members are helping TransLumen explore and develop an infinite array of v-INDICATOR™ applications that will allow users to quickly and accurately analyze mission - critical situations on a 24-hour basis.

With U.S. military forces currently in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is imperative that troops, who are enduring multiple tours of duty, be trained to exceptional levels to protect themselves, their colleagues and ultimately, our country.  TransLumen’s Subthreshold Extreme Gradual Change (STEGC) technology can be used to provide Perceptual Training to help train military personnel improve their visual cognition and thus, become more effective in the field in a variety of exercises, maneuvers and operations.

Perceptual Training is a growing component in improving a soldier’s ability to identify subtle environmental changes in a combat environment and being able to quickly adapt.  In essence, it helps prepare soldiers for one of the most basic concepts of combat – recognition and utilization of camouflage and deception. 

TransLumen has the ability to present a visual scenario that seems static, but actually changes subtly to reveal various situational threats.  For example, the image in the upper-left of this page could appear safe, but the area marked with the red square in that image is actually the location of a sniper.  This type of testing/training is important because:

• People perceive scenes differently from one another;
• Training can actually improve an individual’s attention to detail and attentiveness; and
• Training can also help gauge and improve mental stamina.

Currently, TransLumen is expanding its Perceptual Training products working with the Office of Naval Research and other Department of Defense and aerospace entities.

In 2006, TransLumen received one of the State of Illinois’ Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunities’ Innovative Product grants for the v-INDICATOR™ as a homeland security tool.  The v-INDICATOR™ can be incorporated into a command and control operation, a PC, a laptop or even a mobile device such as a Smart Phone to:

• Triage critical information
• Reduce screen clutter on monitors and screens with multiple icons
• Provide instantaneous and continuous status updates during emergency situations

Typical users could be:

• Operators at a 911 center
• Public officials during emergency situations
• Border control monitors
• Correctional/detainment facilities
• Law Enforcement officers
• Public Health/Safety 1st Responders

 

In the post-9/11 world, an effective government and corporate tool to respond to security threats is establishing command-control facilities to monitor areas on a continuous basis and in emergency situations.  In addition to “zoom-in/zoom-out” viewing options to protect against threats, some facilities require communications operability, weather, response-time and man-power availability gauges (ideally linked through TransLumen’s v-INDICATOR™). 

Unfortunately, no matter how state-of-the-art a facility may be, it is only as effective as the people who monitor the various screens and gauges on a daily, hourly and per-second basis.  Those people have caused human resource managers to ponder three, relatively new questions:

1. Is there a way to initially determine whether a person is suited for the job?
2. Can a person’s ability to serve in that position be improved?
3. At what point is there too much information overload?

This isn’t as simple as it seems.  Some people are just better at it than others and formal education prowess is not a good indicator.  To use a sports analogy, why can some quarterbacks pick-up a blitz or a shadowing defensive back and others can’t.  An intelligence test cannot gauge this.  But, the Perceptual Training tools TransLumen is developing for EMT’s, 1st Responders, relief workers and the military can.

One of the 1st identified uses for TransLumen’s v-INDICATOR™ was in the aviation/aerospace industry.  The v-INDICATOR™ can help display cockpit and air-traffic control related data more clearly and use less screen/dial/gauge real estate.  It also mitigates visual noise problems through clutter, transience and saccade reduction.  The display below shows an early version of the v-INDICATOR™ called the Visual Cue Feedback Indicator. 

The v-INDICATOR™ can be used to aggregate data using various visual indicators.  Touch screen technology can also be utilized to assist pilots/controllers in addressing situations that may be increasing in severity.

TransLumen revolutionary human machine interface. Click for Audio / Video Clip

In 2006, TransLumen received one of the State of Illinois’ Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunities’ Innovative Product grants for the v-INDICATOR™ as a homeland security tool.  But, the v-INDICATOR™ can also be incorporated for use in industrial and commercial facility operations.  The uses are very similar and as in other applications, it can be integrated into a main command and control system and give key stakeholders access via PC or laptop computers and Smart Phones. 

This could be critical for off-site stakeholders who need access to critical information on a 24/7 basis.  As in all uses, the v-INDICATOR™ will:

Triage critical information Reduce screen clutter on monitors and screens Provide instantaneous and continuous status updates during emergency situations Typical industrial users could be: Utility companies Manufacturing plants Construction sites Building infrastructure and security operations Typical commercial users could be: WAN operations Custom “business information tool” dashboards Building infrastructure and security operations

 

How long did it take you?  Well, you just went through one of TransLumen’s Perceptual Training tests.  Although TransLumen initially viewed Perceptual Training as a tool for the military and homeland security operations, in the post-9/11 world, it can also be applied to civilian, domestic operations.  If your industrial or commercial building has surveillance cameras, how do you know if the people you hired have the natural acumen to view the various screens and quickly detect any anomalies?  During the hiring process, there is no written test that can accurately gauge a person’s visual cognition abilities.  But, if you are lucky enough to hire people who are good, is there a way to make them even better?  The answer once again is “yes” by using TransLumen’s Perceptual training services.    In addition to the obvious benefits to police departments, Perceptual Training would be beneficial to a number of civilian/domestic operations, such as:

Security Guard Training Schools Facility Security Companies 1st Responders So, if you think perceptual training would add-value to or solve a problem for your organization, click this icon Contact. But, just in case you are not convinced, click the screen immediately below and see how long it takes you spot to “it” again.