ARiA awarded Phase I SBIR contract with NAVSEA for Environment for Surface ASW Interactive Learning (E-SAIL™)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Applied Research in Acoustics LLC (ARiA) was awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract with the U.S. Navy, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA). In this work, ARiA will address current Anti-submarine Warfare (ASW) training challenges by developing E-SAIL™, the Environment for Surface ASW Interactive Learning. Building on experience developed during the creation of WaveQuest™, E-SAIL™ couples intuitive three-dimensional visualization of the ground-truth tactical situation and environmental data with real-time interactive rendering of recorded and simulated sonar data to help operators gain a deep understanding of (1) the relationships between observed phenomena on sonar tactical displays and and the corresponding phenomena and environmental conditions in the physical world and (2) how an understanding of the mapping between the two domains can be used to improve tactical-system employment. Chief Scientist and Principal Investigator for the project, Dr. Jason E. Summers noted, “Incoming Navy sonar operators face a significant challenge in learning advanced concepts and tactical-system operation in complex environments – particularly given constraints on training and compressed training cycles. By developing E-SAIL™, ARiA is leveraging computer-gaming technology and current advances in pedagogy and learning theory to support the next generation of warfighters.”