Information Sciences and Technology

NC2IF evaluates sensors in Air Force-sponsored research

The Center for Network-Centric Cognition and Information Fusion (NC2IF), is currently researching the gap between the collection of reports and data in computer systems and the knowledge and information collected by human observers. Sponsored by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Center is using a synthetic data set inspired by a counter-insurgency scenario in Iraq, to evaluate hard and soft sensors.

“Hard sensors are a product from a machine, such as a photo, or a video,” explained Colonel Jacob Graham, professor of practice and researcher for the Center for NC2IF. “Soft sensors are reports, stories and descriptions given by observers.” The issue with these soft sensors, said Graham, is their accuracy.

The data fusion set developed by the Center works to fuse these two sensors together to get the accurate, entire story. “If you think of the data as points in a story, with pieces of the story missing, a good fusion will connect the dots to give the entire story,” said Graham.

In addition to research, the Center for NC2IF supports IST curriculum, particularly Security and Risk Analysis courses. The Center also supports undergraduate and graduate research in the College, with seven graduate student researchers and a dozen undergraduate researchers.

To find out more about NC2IF, visit the center's website.
 

Last Updated April 18, 2011