While uncrewed systems are increasingly being deployed in tactical Air Force missions, human operators must still remain in the loop and are the final decision-makers. The challenges are numerous and complex: the environments are constantly changing, whether that is through weather patterns or congested traffic in the airspace; mission objectives can reset on the fly, such as when target priorities shift; and clear and consistent communication between all parties is not a given.

These complexities demand team situation awareness during times of high cognitive workload due to rapidly changing situations in real time, something operators might have difficulty maintaining. TITAN is designed to be an ally in such cases. By exploring complex communication and teaming scenarios, TITAN delivers contextual information to operators in a format that can be quickly and readily understood.

Dr. Nicolette McGeorge, Human Factors Engineering Scientist at Charles River, is the Principal Investigator on the TITAN effort. Phase I, executed with Dr. Michael Rayo at Ohio State University, laid the groundwork using cognitive systems engineering (CSE) methods. The philosophy of CSE is to understand complex situations and identify cognitive needs that should be considered in the design of visualizations to support those situations. This, combined with the tactical knowledge of collaborators at Phoenix Flight Test, Inc. (including Lt. Col. Leonard “Sherman” Kearl, USAF Ret., President), resulted in a series of detailed operational scenarios used to elicit requirements for visualizations that support these complex teaming environments.