N101-103 TITLE: Navy ERP Advanced Visual Reporting

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems, Human Systems

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PEO-EIS Navy Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), ACAT I AM

OBJECTIVE: To develop a software toolkit to describe, define and create spatial data models that can be can be dynamically linked into a framework to facilitate more rapid understanding of complex data sets for leadership decision making. This capability will allow users to spatially visualize complex situations and conditions and to retrieve associated data sets via a comprehensive user interface. The toolkit should contain the collection of standard shapes that can be arranged to compose the user interface. The toolkit can contain qualitative shapes that serve as navigational metaphors, as well as other linkages to quantitative data sets. It is the combination of standard qualitative metaphors integrated with standard quantitative data presentations, used to reduce complexity that is at the heart of this project. Based on Edward Tufte�s research on Sparklines from "Beautiful Evidence" Yale, Published 2004 � this toolkit will have an innovative collection of sparkline like shapes and metaphors that will be used tested across multiple large organization systems and "systems of systems." This effort will explore effective new spatial data visualization methods, collaborative communication tools and an intuitive administrative back-end authoring system.

The pilot will provide a set of data and visual taxonomies with the objective of being mapped into a new visual spatial framework that does not currently exist and has never been attempted. The hypothesis is that a piece of middleware can be created that assigns shapes to data, enabling the merger of qualitative data (metaphor based shapes arranged for use as a taxonomy) and quantitative data (pulled from a variety of databases) in order to reduce complex amounts of data to intelligible systems.

This spatial framework will be accessible to multiple users in a multi-touch screen environment or other high definition, network enabled medium. The key elements of this system will be modeled and demonstrated in this environment, and analyzed for its impact on speed to understanding and quality of decision making for future growth to environments where thousands to tend of thousands of users simultaneously may access for their own decisions. This capability will enable users of existing Visual Information Maps (VIMs) at all levels to dynamically link and retrieve spatial data artifacts for the VIM region of interest to facilitate communications and decision making. This new capability or tool will be referred to as the Spatial Framework Mapping System. A key element of the effort will be to �drill� down into datasets via the software toolkit for deeper understanding at level not achieved before.

DESCRIPTION: The objective of this research is to create and demonstrate the power of new spatial frameworks to improve decision making in complex environments. Current research on how the brain works to process information supports the premise that spatial visualization promotes faster and higher quality understanding of the data or information being reviewed. [See ref. citation] In many complex situations (intelligence operations for example) massive levels of information are being collected. This is driving the need to create new models and methods to represent data and information to accelerate groups of people in understanding this input, navigating through it, and in improving decision making from that understanding. The creation and demonstration of spatial frameworks to address actual situations and to enable data immersion is the focus of this research. [See ref. citation]

The research will extend the understanding of how different visual models work for different data sets to impact a user�s understanding and comprehension. The integration of the visual data artifacts into the spatial frameworks will also be examined. The research will incorporate the use of Visual Information Maps for dynamic analysis, communication, collaboration and decision making. VIMs are increasingly being used to represent complex entities, including large scale systems, organizations, processes, solutions, products and other elements. These VIMs are spawning new vocabularies and facilitating more effective communications and understanding of the elements they represent. By combining this use of spatial visualization with the proposed new frameworks, a realistic capability can be created to dynamically link to and display underlying spatial data artifacts in unique and powerful ways within the framework to facilitate evaluation and analysis of a problem, set of options or other management challenge. This capability will require the development of data type definitions, display options related to data type, and administrative instruction sets to make the tool usable. A full integration architecture must be devised to establish the linkage modes and controls. This full concept development will establish the underpinnings of this effort to support the exploration of the most effective framework designs, spatial data artifacts and presentation modes. The results will provide the guidance for creation of the Spatial Framework Mapping System for deployments in a variety of settings.

The capability could be housed in a multi-touch screen environment or other high resolution, networked environment. The Microsoft Surface is one example of the many industry offerings that could be used to demonstrate this development. The resulting demonstration will illustrate a more effective and efficient way of analyzing data within the context of a spatial framework through tactile commands on the multi-touch screen. The underlying capability to link to and retrieve spatial data artifacts will allow data to be compared and evaluated or contrasted quickly. This will enable the user to evaluate different options and combinations of information in unique and powerful ways. The tool will be developed to accommodate communication and collaboration both in a physical space (fixed and mobile), and across an enterprise data network to allow users to collaborate across the hallway or around the world.

Situation or status reporting, data access, clarity of understanding and faster decision support for leaders are key areas of interest for managers in many environments, including DoD, Federal Agencies, Commercial and other enterprises. Custom reports for complex situations typically involve large costs, extensive time delays and steep learning curves. Visual Information Maps have materially improved the ability of leaders to represent these complexities in ways that improve the understanding and communications involved, but there is a compelling need to provide the next generation of capability to enable full data immersion using spatial frameworks to serve the leaders� requirements. By building this system capability on an enterprise level environment, the tool will be able to be adapted to a wide variety of situations and organizations. Because of the flexible data structures and the extensive visual spatial character of the presentation modes, the tool can be configured to aid in the management and operation of complex organizations, such as a global product distribution network, a complex supply chain implementation, a large scale hospital facility, an international manufacturing operation, or other situations that deals with complexity.

PHASE I: Create the definition and design for spatial data artifacts for a selected set of data sources. These definitions should incorporate inputs on different impacts of the design elements on speed and quality of user understanding of the situation being represented. How the user achieves data immersion, interactions enabled, collaboration factors, and other influences will also be examined. Tasks will include:
� Create a taxonomy and associated definitions for the data types and representation modes for underlying spatial data artifacts to be associated with different data sets or input sources
� Create a functional specification and architecture for the spatial framework software toolkit. The toolkit concept will be built on a limited amount of shapes/metaphors and then extended over time. The toolkit will also address the ability to link the shapes into specific Navy data sources
� Conduct exercises to examine the impact of various representations and combinations to determine the principals to guide the construction of the spatial frameworks
� Create the linkage modes to associate the spatial data artifacts with the spatial framework and the protocols for enacting the linkage, retrieval and presentation of the artifacts
� Design an instruction set for the user to dynamically interact with the spatial framework
� Establish the authoring and administration system for creating and maintaining the above elements
� Develop scenarios to examine the effectiveness of the spatial framework on the user time to understanding and the impact on quality of decision making

PHASE II: Create a demonstration model of the Spatial Framework Mapping System on a multi-touch screen platform. This demonstration is not expected to include all functionality for an enterprise wide implementation, but the design will describe how that functionality will be implemented as a subsequent phase to support enterprise level collaboration and communications. Tasks in this Phase include the following:
� Select a multi-touch screen platform for the demonstration
� Design a scenario developed in Phase I to demonstrate the capabilities of the Spatial Framework Mapping System and establish all of the necessary underlying spatial data artifacts. This scenario should support multiple users in a conference room setting to explore the information, ask questions, and gain decision supporting insights in an interactive group setting. The demonstration will show the power of the data immersion quality of the tool.
� Perform the demonstration as requested and evaluate the results, reactions, and observations

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The Spatial Framework Mapping System has extensive application in all DoD elements, all Agencies of the Federal Government, and all commercial businesses and enterprises that deal with complexity in the execution of their mission or business objective. This capability will be a powerful tool in strategic planning, training, decision making and many other uses.

REFERENCES:
1. Microsoft Surface - http://www.microsoft.com/surface/

2. Microsoft Touch Wall -http://msstudios.vo.llnwd.net/o21/presspass/zune/Touch_Wall_Zune.wmv

3. Perceptive Pixel Technology - http://www.perceptivepixel.com/

4. Perceptive Pixel Wins the 2009 National Design Award from the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper-Hewitt Museum - http://www.nationaldesignawards.org/2009/honoree/perceptive-pixel-inc

5. Putting our arms around the future of touch - http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10225183-56.html

6. Touching The Future - http://www.economist.com/science/tq/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11999181

7. We're just Scratching the Surface of Multitouch - http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/news/2008/08/qa_han

8. How The IPhone Works - http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/iphone2.htm

9. A Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning: Implications for Design, Richard E. Mayer and Roxana Moreno, University of California, Santa Barbara - http://www.unm.edu/~moreno/PDFS/chi.pdf

10. Edward Tufte�s research on Sparklines "Beautiful Evidence" Yale, Published 2004 http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/books_be

KEYWORDS: Visual; Reporting; Asset; Visibility; Financial; Decision-making

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