AugmentedCognition.org
Title
Augmented Cognition
Description
Overview
Limitations in human cognition are due to intrinsic restrictions in the number of mental tasks that a person can execute at one time, and this capacity itself may fluctuate from moment to moment depending on a host of factors including mental fatigue, novelty, boredom and stress. As computational interfaces have become more prevalent in society and increasingly complex with regard to the volume and type of information presented, researchers have investigated novel ways to detect these bottlenecks and have devised and continue to determine strategies to aid users and improve their performance by effectively accommodating capabilities and limitations in human information processing and decision making.
A main goal of the field of Augmented Cognition (AugCog) is to research and develop technologies capable of extending, by an order of magnitude or more, the information management capacity of individuals working with 21st Century computing technologies. AugCog science and technology (S&T) research and development (R&D) is therefore focused on accelerating the production of novel concepts in human-system integration and includes the study of methods for addressing cognitive bottlenecks (e.g., limitations in attention, memory, learning, comprehension, visualization abilities, and decision making) via technologies that assess the user's cognitive status in real time. A computational interaction employing such novel system concepts monitors the state of the user, through behavioral, psychophysiological and/or neurophyiological data acquired from the user in real time, and then adapts or augments the computational interface to significantly improve their performance on the task at hand.
Reference: Schmorrow, D. D., & Kruse, A. A. (2004). Augmented Cognition. In W.S. Bainbridge (Ed.), Berkshire Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 54-59). Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing Group.
