Representative FY 2002 agency activities
NSF: Innovative IT applications in education; collaboration
technologies for research and work environments; assistive technologies
to enable universal access to IT
DARPA: Dialogue-based spoken language systems; network-based capabilities
to support "all source" and "all language" analysis
of intelligence information
NIH: Methods for generating, displaying, and analyzing images in electron
and light microscopy and a number of medical imaging modalities including
positron emission tomography and electron paramagnetic resonance imaging;
tools for accessing molecular biology, biochemistry, and genetics
data
NASA: New interfaces enabling users to visualize, manipulate, compare,
and analyze large-scale, 3-D temporal data sets
DOE Office of Science: Integrated set of software tools to enable
scientists to remotely access and control facilities and share large-scale
data sets in real time
NIST: Usability studies resulting in new tests for evaluation of Web
pages and other applications; testing and commercialization of new
devices for the visually handicapped
ODUSD (S&T): University-based research in mobile augmented battlespace
visualization and tutorial dialogue for artificial intelligence training
systems
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Information technology holds the potential to help all
people enhance their individual capacities and skills. The research
agenda of the Federal IT research agencies aggressively pursues technical
innovations that bring us closer to universal access to and easy usability
of computing and communications systems.
First, human-computer interaction research aims to expand the scope
of what computing devices can contribute to human abilities, such
as by augmenting human memory, attention span, sensory perception
(such as in sight, hearing, and touch), and comprehension. A simple
but powerful example of this augmented cognition is visualization
technologies, which enable researchers to turn complex data into 2-D
and 3-D graphics that can be manipulated and analyzed. Such visualization
capabilities are revolutionizing not only scientific and engineering
research but industrial production processes as well.
Federally sponsored human-computer interaction research also focuses
on integrating advanced functionalities - that is, computing technologies
that input and output speech, translate languages, are activated by
sensory data or remote instruction, and the like - so that they best
support people performing multiple tasks in varying configurations
within complex work environments. For example, Federal research on
"smart spaces" - work environments with embedded computers,
information appliances, and multi-modal sensors - seeks to integrate
these devices in ways that allow people to perform tasks efficiently
by offering unprecedented levels of access to information and assistance
from computing systems.
End user focused research seeks to re-invent such IT components as
interfaces, search engines, and communications technologies from the
standpoint of expanding the user's capabilities and ease of use. Investigations
in language technologies - such as machine translation, speech-driven
computer interactions, pattern recognition, and automated transcription
- aim to enable, for example, hands-free communication between people
and computing devices, computer-generated translations of materials
in foreign languages, computer analysis of texts, and voice recognition
and spoken-language transcription for meeting discussions. These capabilities
not only have vital applications in military and national security
settings but also have an enormous range of uses in other spheres.
This research supports development of technologies, tools, and devices
that help enable all individuals to live full and independent lives,
whatever their ages or physical capacities. A key goal of universal
access research is development of multimodal design strategies - such
as incorporating speech-activated technologies - that will work across
a range of technologies, devices, and user capabilities and preferences.
In FY 2002, the NITRD agencies will sponsor research to solve methodological
and technical issues in integrating functionalities and to develop
designs and tools for diverse distributed applications. Other projects
will focus on understanding the needs of end users in work and learning
environments and modeling multimodal interactions between users and
computing devices in these environments.
- Development of advanced functionalities:
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- Language-engineering technologies, including translation
between languages and between spoken and written languages,
and spoken-language query systems
- Spoken, aural, and multimodal interfaces - for hands-free
and untethered computing in military and advanced aerospace
applications and for computer access for the blind
- Technologies for use of sensors in such settings as
health care, national defense, and emergency management,
and for the severely physically disabled
- Real-time interaction with databases to accelerate decision
making
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- Integration of advanced functionalities:
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- Intelligent systems, such as "smart spaces,"
for ubiquitous computing with multiple interactions; collaborative
mobile agents
- Remote collaboration, visualization, and virtual-reality
environments
- Computer-assisted prosthetics for motion, sight, and
hearing; monitoring systems; and remote consultation technologies
to increase the independence of the elderly and disabled
- Methods and technologies for modeling and sharing expertise;
models and metrics for collaborative performance of complex
tasks
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