Virtual environments, data fusion, and video in support of remote health management systems

Complex systems can be challenging to operate, maintain, and repair. The US Navy is interested in developing data fusion techniques that include video to both assist the shippsilas crew in monitoring machinery and also to allow the crew to get ship-to-shore assistance, usually called distance support, for repairs. This paper reports on a work-in-progress integrating sensor data, streaming and stored video data and processed video data with virtual technologies and 3D modeling to create a data fusion technology. First the hardware and software requirements and development will be discussed. Then progress with the human-system integration and data fusion aspects will be discussed. Finally, the paper will conclude with remarks on future work.