A soldier's after-action mission report can sometimes leave out vital observations that could be valuable in planning future operations. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is exploring the use of soldier-worn sensors and recorders to augment a soldier's recall and reporting capabilities. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is acting as an independent evaluator for the Advanced Soldier Sensor Information System and Technology (ASSIST) project.

Recent tests at the U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center in Aberdeen, Md., involved sensor-clad soldiers on unscripted patrol through simulated Iraqi villages populated with people representing bystanders, shopkeepers and insurgents. The sensors were designed to capture, classify and store data such as the sound of acceleration and deceleration of vehicles, images of people (including suspicious movements), speech and types of weapon fire.

A capacity to give locations using the Global Positioning System, an ability to translate Arabic signs and text into English, and on-command video recording were also demonstrated. Sensor system software is expected to extract keywords and create an indexed multimedia representation of information collected by different soldiers. The soldiers wearing the sensors will make an after-action report based on memory and then supplement that report with information from the sensor data.

"Soldiers endure tremendous physical and psychological stresses, which can make it difficult to remember details about what they experienced over prolonged missions," said Craig Schlenoff, NIST's ASSIST project coordinator. "We hope that ASSIST will keep our soldiers safer and increase the probability of mission success."

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