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Prototype technology could someday help exhausted or stressed front-line officers make sound critical decisions by providing advice based on their own career experiences. The software program can create a database consisting of an individual's professional knowledge that can be expanded and modified throughout a person's career.

A sinking feeling emerges when saved information cannot be retrieved or a hard drive is totally destroyed. The anxiety of data loss rivals the panic that sets in upon misplacing a treasured keepsake or losing a large sum of money. And, it is a deplorable reality in an age that is more dependent than ever on vulnerable devices that are relied upon from the dawn of an idea through storage for posterity.

As businesses increasingly turn to visual methods of interaction, the demand for software programs that support multiple connectivity requirements has fueled growing technological research. The ability to tap the virtually limitless resources of voice, video and data services for use in real-time collaborative communications between companies has attracted interest in the ways these companies can maximize their Internet capabilities.

A research pipeline between biologists and engineers has led to a new class of microrobotics, spawning a paperclip-sized mechanical flying insect that will weigh one-tenth of a gram and will measure 1 inch from wing tip to wing tip. The result will be applied in search and rescue missions, mine detection and even planetary exploration.

The U.S. Defense Department has developed an imagery system that allows full-motion video inputs from unmanned aerial vehicles, handheld cameras and similar devices to move directly from a sensor to an analyst's workstation. Based on recent advances in hardware and commercially available software, intelligence agencies can now capture and process uncompressed imagery in real time with sophisticated off-the-shelf products.

Researchers are testing a prototype computer interface that allows users to interact with a virtual reality world through brain impulses. If successful, this proof-of-concept device could greatly increase the mobility and independence of people who are paralyzed or have similar conditions.

Emergency response personnel are exploring virtual reality to practice dealing with chemical or biological attacks. This combination of medical expertise and technology gives medical teams the opportunity to learn and to make mistakes on patients that simply can be rebooted.

In an age when information dominance is key to mission success, a unit traditionally tasked with evaluating and optimizing long-range, ground-based radar is evolving into a team with a data analysis mission.

Through the use of global positioning system technologies, today's commanders can keep track of man and machine in the battlespace. But in the not-too-distant future, these same decision makers will locate their personnel in physiological space and know how a soldier's physical condition could affect productivity, performance and ultimately the mission.

Holodecks may only exist in the realm of science fiction, but work underway at the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory will allow military personnel to not only view a deluge of data but also interact with it. Many of the technologies that are key to this effort are still in their infancy; however, researchers are examining some currently available commercial products that meet requirements identified by commanders. Today's data display systems allow military personnel to view substantial amounts of data on one interactive screen. Tomorrow's systems would invite commanders to step inside a scenario virtually and become immersed in situational awareness.