Presentation of Information Uncertainty from IoBT for Military Decision Making

The goal of this paper is to investigate uncertainty of information introduced at the final decision point and ways this information can be presented to potentially improve decision making. Uncertainty expressions and representations from different fields of study will be explored in this paper. While uncertainty is important to all types of decision making there is a focus on a simple task that is representative of a military relevant task in this paper. Supporting this effort will be the results from a recent experimental study where information from simulated Internet of Battlefield Thing (IoBT) devices were presented to Soldiers for a simplified decision making task with and without an uncertainty of information value given at preset decision making points. The presentation of this information was done in the Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK) which is a mapping engine that allows precision targeting, intelligence on surrounding land formations, navigation, and situational awareness. For this experimental study the software was modified to add a decision making component within the ATAK interface. Analysis of the data will help influence additional directions for future research and experimentation.