From the category archives:

military

New Interface for Online Banking

by Anne McLaughlin

There are many iPhone applications that integrate the phone camera with software in novel ways.  I came across this video demonstrating how it can be used to deposit checks electronically.
The interface demonstration starts at the 1 minute mark if you would like to skip the advertisement.*

*I’m not sure if it counts as an advertisement when most people aren’t allowed to [...]

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Game Players as Future Warriors

by Richard Pak

I heard an interview over the weekend on the use of robots in war. A fascinating bit from that story was that as modern warfare moves to soldiers manipulating robots from afar, the military leveraged the existing research and development of game companies in the design of hand held controllers (at 13:43 in the streaming interview).
So the predator drone [...]

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1960’s Human Factors : The Titan II Missiles

by Anne McLaughlin
Thumbnail image for 1960’s Human Factors : The Titan II Missiles

I went on a trip to Tucson over the holidays and toured the last Titan II missile silo. A brief history: from 1963-1982 these missiles were part of the cold war “peace through deterrance” and “assured mutual destruction.” In essence, they provided one reason not to attack the US: even were we destroyed, these missiles would still launch to destroy [...]

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Military training via video games

by Richard Pak

The U.S. military has been using games for decades to train its troops.  Now, for the first time, the Army has set up a project office, just for building and deploying games.
No, the Army isn’t about to start handing out copies of Halo 3 to troops, TSJOnline.com notes. “I haven’t seen a game built for the entertainment industry that fills [...]

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Team Training

by Anne McLaughlin

Enjoy this video of expert team performance. I note that the post-er says these Marines “cut a lot of corners.” I’d be very interested to know how this differs from what they “should” be doing and what is optimal.
This from comments on the video: “Chief, what are you doing?! That was one jacked up fire mission. Are you trying to [...]

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The New Field of Unmanned Aircraft

by Anne McLaughlin

Though for some, turning war into a video game might remind them of 1984, unmanned aircraft offer unparalleled safety to the pilot.
NPR recently covered the technological and social changes that come with unmanned aircraft, but the human factors of tracking, flying, and manipulating the Predator was not mentioned.
Obvious issues include:

Lag time from the camera halfway around the world
Limited acuity and [...]

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