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Modeling and simulation have become integral parts of the engineering process and will assume an even greater role in the years ahead. DoD initiatives like Simulation-Based Acquisition mandate a central role of simulation in systems design and engineering. As system engineers and designers rely increasingly on simulation to address design issues, there is an increasing need to develop integrated simulation and modeling environments to support human factors analysis. This paper addresses how and why it would be beneficial to link human process models to human figure models. We discuss how the linked models promote visualization of human factors design concepts. For example, capturing timing and error information from a human figure model greatly enhances the validity of the human process model. Likewise, using human process models to represent the aspects of the process that do not require a human figure model allows larger, more complex processes to be modeled.

Over the past fifteen years, modeling humans in systems has become a more and more common part of design. There have been two focuses of modeling humans - modeling human anthropometry and biomechanics and modeling human behavior and cognition. Recent advances in computer technology are making it easier to integrate models from these two schools. The result of this integration will be dramatic animations that reflect the complexity of human behavior. This paper will address some specific ideas and progress we are making towards this integration.

To better understand the effects of perturbing the organism over the course of long-term space missions, there is a need to provide NASA with a practical and validated tool for modeling human performance in space under normal and stressed conditions. We will build this tool around the technology of Task Network Modeling. Task network modeling has been developed and applied in other similar domains for the past twelve years. By being able to predict human performance under stress with task network models, NASA will be better able to 1) design a user interface to support the human during high-demand periods, 2) allocate functions between the human and machine, including dynamic allocation of functions, 3) develop methods whereby intelligent agents may be used to assist humans in high stress periods, and 4) develop methods for maximizing situational awareness during high stress periods.