Information Cognition (IC): Enabling the Human Cog in the Information Retrieval Machine

SUMMARY

This research programme will investigate the feasibility of using visual representations for the secure navigation and search of large, complex, multimedia data sets. It draws upon prior research that shows the human visual system has a powerful ability to recognise and classify objects in 3D environments. To do this the project will create an experimental platform that combines human cognitive abilities with recent advances in design information management, computer graphics and data mining. The resulting system will support the systematic study of how advanced visual interfaces impact on a user's ability to both find individual items and identify patterns, or oddities, within subsets of the data.

The veracity of the project's experimental methodology is ensured through close collaboration with an international research centre supported by a consortium of leading defence contractors (ie Rolls Royce, Boeing etc). This partnership will ensure the project is focused on the challenges faced by the defence industry and can assess its outputs using a realistic bench mark environment.

IMPACT SUMMARY

Early beneficiaries of the proposed research will be the project partners and collaborators. The user partners, the Glasgow based Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC), and Dstl will benefit from participation in the research and in the definition of their specific information retrieval requirements. They will both be provided with fully documented reports detailing the results of the research, and how they can potentially be incorporated into exiting systems. 'Live' trials of data retrieval will take place with the AFRC, offering early advantage. The exploitation of human cognition into new graphical interfaces will enable them to retrieve information faster, and to add the intuitive intelligence of the human brain to the processing power of current information storage systems. The two collaborating SMEs, ShapeSpace and MaidSafe, both concerned with information retrieval, will benefit through the opportunity to utilise the results in their own products, and the potential to exploit new knowledge and technologies.

Outside of the immediate collaborators, the research will impact AFRC partners in the defence contracting and aerospace industries both of whom have similarly complex information retrieval requirements to the AFRC itself and to Dstl. They will access the new technology through the AFRCs dissemination mechanisms, and through the recently formed HVM Technology Innovation Centre. Wider dissemination of the research will ultimately impact all industrial and service organisations with multiple clients and a requirement to access diverse information sources within both ethically sensitive commercially sensitive environments.

Academic beneficiaries from the research will include those researching in the information management and interface design fields - impact will be ensured through publication of research results in the appropriate journals and conferences.

Lastly, we anticipate there will be a social (and potentially economic) impact of the research to the general public. Rapid, comprehensive, and accurate data retrieval will assist those services (be they the security services or the healthcare system) to respond quickly to any situation where access to complex data is required.

Benefits from the research will be realised within 3 years of the project end. The advantage is that the project draws upon and integrates established technologies and prior research, thus presenting a realistic opportunity for early exploitation.