Högskolan i Skövde

The aim of maritime surveillance systems is to detect threats earlyenough to take appropriate actions. We present the results ofa study on maritime domain awareness performed during the fallof 2008. We analyze an identified capability gap of worldwidesurveillance in the maritime domain, and report from a userworkshop addressing the identified gap. We describe a SMARTracIn conceptsystem that integrates information from surveillance systems with background knowledgeon normal conditions to help users detect and visualize anomaliesin vessel traffic. Land-based systems that cover the coastal watersas well as airborne, space-borne and ships covering open seaare considered. Sensor data are combined with intelligence information fromship reporting systems and databases. We describe how information fusion,anomaly detection and semantic technology can be used to helpusers achieve more detailed maritime domain awareness. Human operators area vital part of this system and should be activecomponents in the fusion process. We focus on the problemof detecting anomalous behavior in ocean-going traffic, and a roomand door segmentation concept to achieve this. This requires theability to identify vessels that enter into areas covered bysensors as well as the use of information management systemsthat allow us to quickly find all relevant information.

Information Fusion coordinates large-volume data processing machines to address user needs. Users expect a situational picture to extend their ability of sensing events, movements, and activities. Typically, data is collected and processed for object location (e.g. target identification) and movement (e.g. tracking); however, high-level reasoning or situational understanding depends on the spatial, cultural, and political effects. In this paper, we explore opportunities where information fusion can aid in the selection and processing of the data for enhanced tacit knowledge understanding by (1) display fusion for data presentation (e.g. cultural segmentation), (2) interactive fusion to allow the user to inject a priori knowledge (e..g. cultural values), and (3) associated metrics of predictive capabilities (e.g. cultural networks). In a simple scenario, cultural information impacts on situational understanding from deception is demonstrated using the Technology-Emotion-Culture-Knowledge (TECK) attributes of the Observer-Orient-Decide-Act (OODA) model.

A more precise definition of the field of information fusion can be of benefit to researchers within the field, who may use uch a definition when motivating their own work and evaluating the contribution of others. Moreover, it can enable researchers and practitioners outside the field to more easily relate their own work to the field and more easily understand the scope of the techniques and methods developed in the field. Previous definitions of information fusion are reviewed from that perspective, including definitions of data and sensor fusion, and their appropriateness as definitions for the entire research field are discussed. Based on strengths and weaknesses of existing definitions, a novel definition is proposed, which is argued to effectively fulfill the requirements that can be put on a definition of information fusion as a field of research.

This thesis presents a new methodology named CASADEMA (CApturing Semi-Automated DEcision MAking) which captures the interaction between humans and the technology they use to support their decision-making within the domain of Information Fusion. We are particularly interested in characterising the interaction between human decision makers and artefacts in semi-automated fusion processes. In our investigation we found that the existing approaches are limited in their ability to capture such interactions in sufficient detail. The presented method is built upon a distributed-cognition perspective. The use of this particular theoretical framework from cognitive science enables the method to take into account not only the role of the data captured in the physical and digital artefacts of the fusion system (e.g., radar readings, information from a fax or database, a piece of paper, etc.), but also the cognitive support function of the artefacts themselves (e.g., as an external memory) as part of the fusion process. That is, the interdependencies between the fusion process and decision-making can be captured. This thesis thus contributes to two main fields. Firstly, it enables, through CASADEMA, a distributed-cognition perspective of fusion processes in the, otherwise, rather technology-oriented field of Information Fusion. This has important conceptual implications, since it views fusion processes as extending beyond the boundary of physical/computer systems, to include humans, technology, and tools, as well as the interactions between them. It is argued that a better understanding of these interactions can lead to a better design of fusion processes, making CASADEMA an important contribution to the information fusion field. Secondly, the thesis provides, again in the form of CASADEMA, a practical application of the distributed-cognition theoretical framework. Importantly, the notations and definitions introduced in CASADEMA structure the otherwise currently rather loosely defined concepts and approaches in distributed cognition research. Hence, the work presented here also contributes to the fields of cognitive science and human-computer interaction.

Motivation – The motivation is to extend the current technology driven design approach in information fusion by characterising how users interact with and are active components in information fusion based decision support.

Research approach – A combination of theoretical and empirical investigations has been chosen to examine how users interact with information fusion based decision support.

Findings/Design – The results define the building blocks for a future framework. So far, a new decision support class, i.e., fusion driven decision support, has been suggested. The class characterises the information fusion process, the users’ role, and factors that affect interactions with such systems. Also, the result indicates that Distributed Cognition is a useful tool for capturing semi-automated information fusion processes.

Research limitations/Implications – So far, the building blocks for a framework, which capture users and information fusion systems, have been identified and further studies are needed in order to fully develop the framework.

Originality/Value – The characterisation of the user makes a contribution to the technologically oriented research field of information fusion, which most often considers users as passive receivers of information. In addition, the research makes a contribution to the field of decision support by extending the current list of decision support classes with semi-automated decision support.

Take away message – Unlike common beliefs, the information fusion process extends the boundary of the physical system, to include humans, technology, tools and the interactions among them.

ecision making is one of the most important human abilities. We utilise it from the very small decision of choosing a lunch restaurant to the much more complex decision situations involving heterogeneous groups of people cooperating towards a common goal. Although, the problem is still the same; we perceive a lot of information from many different sources all around us, enabling us to access a large quantity of information, yet, somehow we have difficulties to make a decision from that information. Not surprisingly, this problem will not magically disappear or become any easier, considering the current development of advanced technology, enabling us to access even more information, in real-time. This report address the new challenges put on decision making where you are to handle and make sense of a vast array of information from different sources. The report explores the use of information fusion to support this specific issue. The report identifies the limitations of current research concerning the intersection between decision making, decision support and information fusion, and makes suggestion for future research.

Information fusion, i.e., the automatic integration of information from multiple sources, is an advancing research area which can assist decision makers in enhancing their decisions. Most information fusion research so far has had a technical focus and has paid relatively little attention to human decision making processes. Hence, through both theoretical and empirical studies, the research presented in this licentiate thesis seeks to characterise the interdependencies between human decision making and information fusion. The work presented constitutes different building blocks for a framework for the information fusion community. The initial framework promotes a user (decision maker) centred perspective and is presented as an instrument with which to understand the various ways decision makers can influence information fusion systems and processes.

The focus of information fusion has traditionally been on the technical aspects e.g. algorithms. However, the importance of also understanding human information processing is gaining increasing recognition. The research outlined here aims to incorporate and widen the perspective of HCI in information fusion and decision support research i.e. the utilisation of the user as an active component in the information fusion process. A new perspective of the information fusion process is proposed and distributed cognition is identified as a theoretical framework capturing the process. Also, initial results indicate that trust, uncertainty and temporal aspects are issues affecting the interaction between the user and the information fusion system. © BCS HCI Group Conference: Engage, HCI 2006.All right reserved.

Information fusion is a research area which focuses on how to combine information from many different sources to support decision making. Commonly used information fusion systems are often complex and used in military and crises management domains. The focus of information fusion research so far has been mainly on the technological aspects. There is still a lack of understanding relevant user aspects that affect the information fusion systems as a whole. This paper presents a framework of HCI issues which considers users as embedded in the context of information fusion systems. The framework aims at providing insights regarding factors that affect user interaction to inform the development of future information fusion systems. Design considerations are presented together with a heuristic evaluation of an information fusion prototype.

The presented research is motivated by the limited ability of current methods to capture the nature of information fusion processes. Fusion processes typically include both humans and technology, hence, there is a need for a new way to analyse such processes. With the aid of distributed cognition, the interaction between decision makers and IF technology can be captured more clearly, and thereby critical bottlenecks can be identified which may require further automation. Application of the tool may advance the research area of information fusion.

Traditionally, the focus of most information fusion research has been on computational aspects, as illustrated by, for example, different versions of the JDL data fusion model. Consequently, the human user has mainly been conceived as a relatively passive recipient of fused information. However, the importance of understanding the active role of human information processing in information fusion is gaining increasing recognition, as also reflected in discussions of a "level 5" in the JDL model. This paper presents a case study of the interaction between human and machine information processing in a maritime surveillance control room. A detailed analysis of cognitive processes and information flows involved in identifying and tracking moving vessels illustrates how machines and human operators collaboratively perform fusion in a highly distributed fashion. The theoretical framework of distributed cognition provides an alternative or complementary way of analysing information fusion systems/processes that more clearly reveals the actual complexities of the interaction between human and machine information processing in practice. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

 Today’s asymmetric threats put new challenges on military decision making. As new technology develops we have new possibilities to support decision making in such environments. However, it is important that the tools developed take into account users’ (commanders’) decision needs. This paper presents some initial user studies of Swedish commanders testing a prototype application developed to answer these new challenges introduced by asymmetric threats. The application aids commanders by supporting situation awareness in terms of providing an overview of incoming intelligence reports and displaying probabilities of future events. The user study focuses on how the tool can support commanders’ daily decision making activities. The results indicate that the general concept could be useful for Swedish commanders and analysts, but some suggestions for improvements are made. The issues found in this study will inform the continuing evaluation of this tool.

 In maritime surveillance, supporting operators’ situation awareness is a very important issue for enabling the possibility to detect anomalous behaviour. We present a user study which conceptualises knowledge to be implemented in a rulebased application aiming at supporting situation awareness. Participatory observations were used as a method for extracting operators’ knowledge. The result of the user study is in the form of a number of identified rules emerging from organisational factors, group thinking and individual experience. A description of the rule-based prototype is presented a long with the result from the user study. This is also discussed together with the applicability of rule based systems and how to support situation awareness.

The focus of most information fusion research, so far, has been on the technology, i.e. information processing techniques and algorithms. Consequently, there is a lack of research concerning the actual usage of information fusion systems in terms of cognitive and organisational issues such as supporting both individual and group decision making. This paper provides a retrospective of information fusion research so far and a future vision of information fusion systems as actual decision support systems. A methodology for developing decision support systems is suggested which could not only ensure the effectiveness of information fusion systems as decision support systems but also provide a natural user perspective and top-down approach to information fusion in general.

This paper reports on a brainstorming workshop with subject matter experts that aimed at identifying potential anomalies for world wide maritime surveillance. An extensive description of the workshop process and output is presented. The evaluation consists of two parts. First, the output of the workshop is compared with the output of a similar workshop as presented in Roy [1]. Secondly, the methodological differences between capturing know-how of subject matter experts in a workshop versus observing daily work of operators, as applied in Nilsson et al [2], is discussed. The conclusions are that brainstorming workshops and field studies should be combined to compensate for their weaknesses. Also, the outcomes of both methods heavily depend on the selection of operators to be observed, respectively the selection of subject matter experts invited. A final recommendation is that multiple studies and workshops are needed until no ‘new’ anomalies are identified.

The purpose of information fusion is to support and improve decision making. However, theories of decision making differ significantly on their view of what a good decision actually is. Hence, depending on which decision making theory one (un)consciously adopts there are different requirements for information fusion as decision support Information fusion researchers and practitioners should therefore be more explicit about their assumptions regarding decision making by carefully describing their theoretical frameworks. To illustrate this point the 'theory of sensemaking' by Karl Weick is presented as one example of a decision making theory. Major differences between decision making assumptions in that theory and assumptions common in much information fusion research are highlighted. Implications and challenges for information fusion are discussed.

The focus of most information fusion research, so far, has been on the technology, i.e. information processing in machines. However, the importance of also understanding human information processing, and the interaction between humans and machines, is gaining increasing recognition. This position paper argues that a distributed cognition perspective, which considers cognitive processes not as taking place solely inside people's heads, but as distributed over human thought processes and the material, social and organizational environment they are embedded in, may help to provide a deeper understanding of information fusion processes