Soldiers often have to perform complex tasks in extreme conditions, sometimes approaching or exceeding the limits of their capabilities. Some of the missions the soldiers perform can take weeks, away from in difficult terrain like deserts and mountains which requires maintaining an incredibly high level of physical fitness. Around the world, armies are recognizing the importance of maximizing the effectiveness of Soldiers physically, perceptually, and cognitively.
A decrease in cognitive performance can have great impact and it is therefore important to gain more insight into influencing factors of cognitive performance. Preventive action and early recognizing of decrements in cognitive performance are important to optimize the employment of Defence staff.
Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC) in Massachusetts is focused on developing capabilities that increase warfighter capacity to fight and win on the future battlefield. Some of the areas it is researching are effects of frustration, mental workload, stress, fear and fatigue on both cognitive and physical performance.
In 2017, the United States Department of Defense will launch the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (Talos), a futuristic piece of military hardware that encloses soldiers within a bullet-bouncing, internally cooled, computerised exoskeleton. Wearable Biosensors are being developed that measure EEG, ECG, and EMG (electroencephalograms, electrocardiograms, and electromyography, tests which monitor brain, heart, and muscle activity).
The Office of Naval Research awarded a $150,000 grant to Titus and the tech firm Sentience Science to develop tools that could monitor an individual’s stress levels in combat and automatically generate alerts when they reach dangerous levels.
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