Charles River Develops System to Assess Cognitive Workload

Charles River Analytics Inc. recently worked with NASA to assess astronaut workload and performance during the testing and evaluation of new NASA systems. The company used the measurements from its CAPT PICARD system to determine how best to display health and status on the Orion space vehicle.

NASA is continually developing new technologies to improve astronaut effectiveness. These technologies risk overloading astronauts’ cognitive capacities, degrading performance. Charles River’s system for Cognitive Assessment and Prediction to Promote Individualized Capability Augmentation and Reduce Decrement (CAPT PICARD) supports testing and engineering, allowing engineers to quantitatively and continuously evaluate the cognitive demands of new tools and systems, as well as how they affect task performance.

Conducting workload assessment during developmental testing of a new system means users can identify features and designs that result in high workloads early in the process when redesigns are more feasible and less costly. The R&D Charles River conducted under CAPT PICARD and other cognitive workload assessment projects can also measure the training effectiveness of realistic training simulations.

Visitors of I/ITSEC can learn more about CAPT PICARD and the company’s related capabilities from Dec. 2-6 in Orlando, Florida at Booth #1239.