In January 1996 human computer intelligent interaction (HCII) researchers at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), with the participation of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), received a five-year, multi-million dollar grant from the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) to establish a Federated Laboratory for Advanced Displays and Interactive Displays. The grant was awarded to a consortium led by Rockwell International, with participation from Collins Avionics and Communications Division and their Science Center in California. UIUC is a major partner of the consortium; other partners include North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Microelectronics Computing and Networking Center, and Sytronics. This Federated Lab is one of three that are involved in establishing the technology base required to develop a digital battlefield that integrates information gathering, distribution, processing, and presentation.

The goal of the project is to develop advanced human computer interaction techniques that provide access to all information of practical use in the battlefield environment. These systems will provide efficient and intuitive data visualization while using the total human sensory modality. Accomplishing these goals without overloading the user and degrading performance is a priority.

The project covers a broad span of human computer interaction areas, including computer vision; image/video compression, eye movement and human visual perception; visualization; machine learning, problem solving, and design; human factors in display; natural language understanding; 3D audio; tactile communication; and heterogeneous databases. These components will be brought together in a prototyping facility, the Integrated Systems Lab, located in the Beckman Institute.

The principal investigators for the UIUC part of the project are Dr. Thomas Huang; William L. Everitt, Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and a member of the Institute's Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Image Formation and Processing (IFP) groups; and Dr. George McConkie, Chair of the Educational Psychology Department and part of the Human Perception and Performance (HPP) Group at the Institute. Dr. Eugene Gregory, Associate Dean for External Affairs in the College of Engineering, was instrumental in preparation of the proposal to ARL and represents UIUC on the Consortium Management Committee.

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