Information Warfare: The Battlefield In 3-D

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January 12, 2010: It's not enough to have a lot of information, you have to get it organized so that you can quickly make sense of it. This is particularly true with battlefield and security video. So the solution is software systems, like TerraSight, that combine all the available video on a 3-D representation of the area. All the data from videos are shown, along with the source.

While each individual video may be serving a particular user (usually a ground combat commander, of a platoon or company), higher level commanders also need to know what is going on at the Big Picture level. Thus TerraSight enables battalion or brigade commanders to see a larger area, and all the videos, and direct subordinate units accordingly. TerraSight is also an excellent tool for managing the dozen (or dozens) or more security vidcams (on the ground and overhead in towers or UAVs) around bases.

Systems like TerraSight don't provide a crystal clear picture, given the quality of many of the video feeds, but the system does accurately and clearly combine many videos, making the information useful to more people.