Battlespace digitisation systems must be flexible enough to maximise the effectiveness of manoeuvre warfare against a range of possible threats. Currently, this flexibility is largely a manual process. The aim of this paper is to examine the applicability of Belief, Desire and Intention (BDI) intelligent agent technologies for use in situation awareness and information dissemination systems. This paper illustrates how intelligent software can be used: to enhance the effectiveness of battlespace digitisation systems. The BDI agent model is an event-driven execution model providing both reactive and proactive behaviour. The utility of this model is demonstrated via the agent-based Collection Plan Management System (CPMS).

Effective battlespace awareness is essential for any defence operation; this is especially true in the increasingly complex and dynamic land component of the military environment. Because of its relatively small force size dispersed piece-wise across a large and largely vacant landmass, the Defence of Australia presents a somewhat unique challenge for the development of systems that support command decision-making. The intent of this paper is to first examine the digitisation effort under way in Australia and describe the Army Battlefield Command Support System (BCSS) being developed for use in the tactical arena. BCSS is essentially a suite of commercial-off-the-shelf and government-off-the-shelf software components provided via a standard operating environment to aid decision-making. Then, we present the development of a Tactical Land C4I Assessment Capability (TLCAC) synthetic environment which is being used to undertake controlled performance evaluations of the various elements of the BCSS suite and provide impact assessments of new technological advances. The TLCAC provides a capacity to assess in near real-time Brigade and below level command post exercise activities. That is, when deployed it provides a mechanism to automatically collect command and control and manoeuvre data, which can aid in the after action review process.

Whereas data mining and exploitation improve the quality and quantity of information available to the user, there remains a mission requirement to assist the end-user in managing the access to this information and ensuring that the appropriate information is delivered to the right user in time to make decisions and take action. This paper discusses TASC's federated architecture to next- generation information management, contrasts the approach against emerging technologies, and quantifies the performance gains. This architecture and implementation, known as Real-time Information Management Environment (RIME), is based on two key concepts: information utility and content-based channelization. The introduction of utility allows users to express the importance and delivery requirements of their information needs in the context of their mission. Rather than competing for resources on a first-come/first-served basis, the infrastructure employs these utility functions to dynamically react to unanticipated loading by optimizing the delivered information utility. Furthermore, commander's resource policies shape these functions to ensure that resources are allocated according to military doctrine. Using information about the desired content, channelization identifies opportunities to aggregate users onto shared channels reducing redundant transmissions. Hence, channelization increases the information throughput of the system and balances sender/receiver processing load.

The Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Division Newport (NUWCDIVNPT) and its partners have developed a prototype CTI (Command Technology Initiatives) Test Bed to demonstrate the utility of a facility where warfighters, government, academia and industry can evaluate the application of collaborate decision support and advanced computer graphics technologies to submarine command and control. The CTI Test bed is currently comprised of three components: Collaborative Visualization Environment (CVE) for Submarine Command and Control, which provides a coherent 3-D display of the perceived undersea battlespace. Individual windows can display multi-dimensional data/information to support a common picture of undersea battlespace management and tactical control; Submarine Fleet Mission Programming Library (SFMPL) which provides environmental data, such as transmission loss, to CVE; Command and Control Data Server which provides contact reports, areas of uncertainty, and ownship/contact motion to CVE Facilitated by a CORBA⁴ (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) compliant architecture, remotely connected collaborators interact via a computer network to generate and share information. Additionally, collaborators communicate orally via network telephony. Currently, the CTI Test bed is configured to provide volumetric displays of: undersea battlespace w/ bathymetry; Detection/Counter-detection regions for a given probability of detection; Contact(s) Volume of Uncertainty The CTI Test Bed provides a CORBA compliant framework, which can be readily expanded to evaluate candidate applications of collaborative command and tactical decision support and advanced computer graphics technologies.

The Electronic Battle Box is an integrated suite of planning and decision-aid tools specially designed to facilitate Canadian Armed Force Officers during their training and during their tasks of preparing and conducting military operations. It is the result of a collaborative effort between the Defence Research Establishment Valcartier, the Directorate of Army Doctrine (DAD), the Directorate of Land Requirements (DLR), the G4 staff of 1Cdn Div HQ and CGI Information and Management Consultants Inc. Distributed on CD-ROM, the Electronic Battle Box contains efficient and user-friendly tools that significantly reduce the planning time for military operations and ensure staff officers a better focus on significant tasks. Among the tools are an OrBat Browser and an Equipment Browser allowing to view and edit military organizations, a Task Browser providing facilities to prepare plans using Gantt charts, a Logistic Planner allowing to estimate supply requirements applying complex calculations, and Road, Air and Rail Movement Planners. EBB also provides staff officers with a large set of doctrinal documents in an electronic format. This paper provides an overview of the various tools of the Electronic Battle Box.

We analyze the intensity-dependent optical response of passive optical limiters realized using distributed feedback structures which consist of alternating layers of materials possessing opposite Kerr nonlinearities. By elaborating an analytical model and employing numerical simulations, we explore device performance with respect to key requirements for passive optical limiter deployment. We prove that the proposed limiting mechanism results in complete clamping of transmitted intensity to a sensor-safe limiting value, independent of incident intensity. We provide a direct analytical expression for this limiting intensity in terms of structural and material parameters.

We have assembled, programmed, and demonstrated a robot- mounted motion-detection radar suitable for through-wall operation. Our radar, which employs pulse-Doppler techniques, is designed to look through building walls and locate moving targets. The radar's signal-processing algorithms use both time-domain and frequency-domain clues to classify detected motion as arising from: (1) the ambient background; (2) mechanical motion; or (3) human activity. In the case of human motion, our routines also attempt to identify the occupant's particular activity, e.g., resting, walking, talking.

A MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS)-based fiber optic sensor and sensor network for improving weapon stabilization and fire control have been developed. Fabrication involves overwriting two fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) onto a polarization-preserving optical fiber core. A MEMS diaphragm is fabricated and integrated with the overlaid FBGs to enhance the performance and reliability of the sensor. A simulation model for the MEMS fiber optic sensor and sensor network has been derived, and simulation results concerning load, angle, strain, and temperature have been obtained. The fabricated MEMS diaphragm and the overlaid FBGs have been packaged together on the basis of simulation results and mounted on a specially designed cantilever system. The combined multifunctional MEMS fiber optic sensor and sensor network is cost-effective, fast, rugged enough to operate in harsh environmental conditions, compact, and highly sensitive.

The C4ISR Architecture Framework, Version 2.0, provides the basis for all Department of Defense commands, services and agencies to describe their Information System architectures. The majority of the C4ISR products currently being developed provide static information for operational, system, and technical views of an information system. The C4ISR Framework also provides for dynamic or behavioral information in the form of rules models, state transition descriptions, and event/trace descriptions. However, because of a lack of tools and process to develop this dynamic information, these products are rarely developed. This paper presents the results of an ongoing effort, in support of the Army's Digitization architecture development, to remedy this situation. The effort is focused on developing a process that builds on the Army's First Digitized Division (FDD) Operational Architecture (OA) activity models. The process includes development of an executable OA based on mission threads captured in a commercial business-process modeling tool, Professional Bonapart. The mission threads are automatically converted into use-cases for importation into RoseRT. These use-cases provide the basis for developing the System Architecture (SA) in RoseRT, which simulates the architecture and automatically generates event/trace descriptions as UML sequence diagrams. Execution of the OA and SA models results in a set of operational and performance metrics that can be used to validate the architectures as well as producing graphical representations of C4ISR behavioral products. This paper will present the results of applying the process to the development of executable architectures to elements of the Army's First Digitized Division.

The Canadian Army, like most Western armies, spent a lot of time soul-searching about the application of technology to its Command and Control processes during the height of the Cold War in the 70's and 80's. In the late 1980's, these efforts were formalized in a program called the Tactical Command, Control and Communications System (TCCCS). As envisioned, the project would replace in one revolutionary Big Bang all of the tactical communications employed in the Canadian field forces. It would also add significant capabilities such as a long range satellite communications system, a universal tactical e-mail system, and a command and control system for the commander and his staff from division to unit HQ. In 1989, the project was scaled back due to budgetary constraints by removing the divisional trunk communications system and the command and control system. At this point a contract was let to Computing Devices Canada for the core communications functionality. During the next 6 years, the Canadian Army expanded on this digitization effort by amending the contract to add in a trunk system and a situational awareness system. As well, in 1996, Computing Devices received a contract to develop and integrate a C2 system with the communications system thereby restoring the final two Cs of TCCCS. This paper discusses the architecture and implementation of the TCCCS as the revolutionary enabler of the Canadian Army's digitization effort for the early 2000 era. The choice of a hybrid approach of using commercial standards supplemented by appropriate NATO communications standards allowed for an easy addition of the trunk system. As well, conformance to the emerging NATO Communications architecture for Land Tactical Communications in the Post 2000 era will enhance interoperability with Canada's allies. The paper also discusses the pragmatic approach taken by the Canadian Army in inserting C2 functionally into TCCCS, and presents the ultimate architecture and functionality. This paper concludes with a review of some of the areas of concern that will need to be addressed to complete a baseline digitization capability for the Canadian Army.

Active networks are a novel approach to network architecture that break from the traditional networking paradigm by allowing for the injection of customized computations into the network nodes. They provide a flexible network infrastructure that can be extended at runtime to implement the sophisticated network services needed to support the digitized battlespace of the future. This paper presents the design of an active network architecture that leverages the existing IP infrastructure to implement capabilities for the deployment of user-specified computations within an IP network. The Common Active Network Services (CANS) framework, described in this paper, allows for user- specified computations in the form of Java code only to be injected into the network. Such computations are executed at strategic points within the network to implement new services targeted for mobile wireless applications.

The advent of software-defined radios (products of DSP) with embedded processors capable of performing, communications functions (i.e., modulation) makes it possible for networks of radios to operate efficiently by changing its transmission characteristics (waveform) to fit the input data bandwidth requirements commensurate with received E_b/N₀. It is also now feasible to have embedded within the network of radios a networking system capable of allocating bandwidth in accordance with current needs and priorities. The subject of battlefield networking can now also be addressed. A system with the multiple degrees of freedom (e.g., ability to manually and automatically change communications parameters to improve communications performance, spectrum management and the ability to incorporate different mission processing support) will provide the warfighter, those who support the warfighter and the rapidly expanding mission of our armed forces (i.e., peacekeeping, anti-terrorism) to meet an ever-changing mission and operational environment. This paper will address how such a robust communications system will enhance the mission of the specialist and make the products of his efforts a real-time tool for the shooter who must operate within the digitized battlespace.

Dismounted soldier combat identification presents unique operational requirements and challenges that must be met in order to provide reliable and highly accurate point-of- engagement identification. This paper describes the significant design decisions made on the Combat Identification for Dismounted Soldier (CIDDS) program that address these issues. Also presented are results of various tests performed on the CIDDS system. The CIDDS system consists of an AN/PSX-1 Interrogator Set and an AN/PSC-12 Transponder Set which are mounted to the soldier's individual weapon and helmet, respectively. The CID function is a digitized, encoded laser interrogation with a digitized, encrypted TDMA RF friend response. Several features were architected into the laser/RF protocol to add the robustness needed in a dismounted soldier environment to provide up to 97.5% probability of correct ID at ranges up to 1100 meters. These include: selection of an eyesafe laser wavelength and power that propagates well through battlefield obscurants; laser and RF messaging protocols that provide robust communication links for the dismounted soldier environment; antenna design and placement; data error correction; frequency diversity. The presentation will also discuss how the CIDDS architecture supports command and control by other digitized systems, including Battlefield Combat Identification System (BCIS), Land Warrior, the Objective Individual Combat Weapon (OICW) and the Objective Crew Served Weapon (OCSW).

In order to determine the benefits of battlespace digitization for C31, the assessment must be performed in a systematic manner within an appropriate framework. This task is particularly challenging, with a multitude of uncontrollable variable and unmeasurable attributes involved in complex Command and Control systems, and with boundary conditions often unspecified. Several factors must be rigorously considered to derive meaningful results and to minimize risks of generating false conclusions. The key properties for quality assurance are reliability and validity. Other factors include effects of uncertainty, which manifest themselves in several ways, This paper examines several important issues in the evaluation, and offers recommendations for the approach.

One key to successful digital battlespace management is communications management. HF, UHF, VHF, CDMA, and SATCOM assets are difficult and complex to manage, and the modern digital battlespace adds new dimensions by including high volume multimedia transmissions, high-speed broadband data, and hyper-spectral sensor data. This environment requires more than the traditional voice transport-based communications system. The future sanctuary-based communication hub model will benefit from a novel uninterruptible self-determinate high bandwidth fiber optic system.

The paper describes overall functions, system configuration and its overall technologies concerned of C⁴ISR system or information network system for warfighter with the emphasis on the use of COTS information network system concepts, principles, designing thinking, architecture and network technologies for implementing the desired C⁴ISR structure. Two subjects are included: research on the composition of warfighter C⁴ISR system from the aspects of overall functional features and structure features; research on the overall technologies of digital warfighter system with emphasis on the discussion of integrated structure system, information collection and processing methods, and the technologies and scheme of information network system.

Airborne network systems to transmit reconnaissance data form UAVs have been investigated. An airborne experimental system has been developed as testbed to investigate different concepts of the communication between UAV sensor platform, relay platform and ground station. It is based on an Eurocopter BO 105 helicopter and a Dornier DO 228 aircraft. The helicopter is utilized as sensor platform and is equipped with an IR video sensor. It has been demonstrated that video reconnaissance images can be transmitted through a distance of 500 km using the relay platform.

The future C41 systems, operating at the digital battlefield should be able to transmit high-quality digital live video and imagery through low-bandwidth communication channels. In this paper, we propose low-bandwidth (64 kbps) wireless transmission of TV-class VGA/NTSC-video (221 Mbps-original bandwidth), integrated with still imagery. For the first time, low-compressed MPEG I-frames will be used as high quality still images, representing every I-frame video stream. As a result, we will be able to transmit high quality both temporal and spatial events, while still preserving low-bandwidth transmission, a fundamental goal for video/imagery surveillance at the digital battlefield.

With the advancement of hardware technology, it becomes feasible to develop a networked system of pervasive computing platforms that combine programmable general purpose computers with multiple sensing and wireless communication capability. This networked system of programmable sensor nodes, together called a sensor network, poses unique challenges on how information collected by and stored within the sensor network should be queried and accessed, and how concurrent sensing tasks should be programmed from external clients. In this paper, we describe an architecture that facilitates querying and tasking of sensor networks. The key idea to the architecture lies in the development of the Sensor Querying and Tasking Language (SQTL) and the corresponding Sensor Execution Environment (SEE). We model a sensor network as a distributed set of collaborating nodes that carry out querying and tasking activities programmed in SQTL. A frontend node injects a message, that encapsulates an SQTL program, into a sensor node and starts a diffusion computation. A sensor node may diffuse the encapsulated SQTL program to other nodes as dictated by its logic and collaborately perform the specified querying or tasking activity. We will present the SQTL language and demonstrate its applicability using a maximum temperature querying application and a vehicle tracking application.

Quickly growing field of planning and decision support systems require effective tools to operate with spatial distributed information. The modern virtual GIS using 3- dimensional representation of the real territories are designed to decide most problems. Nowadays because of difficulties to have a high detailed 3D digital world model due to limited computer possibilities the following way is realized. The GIS data (electronic maps) provide the stationary base with rather large step of the grid and artificial (but nature similar) textures. The space photos (especially made by the topographical camera TK-350 and camera of the high-resolution KVR-1000) are the sources of more precise models with natural gray-scale textures. The model of area in the vicinity of most interesting places can be received only by means of aerial photographs or video data processing. The accuracy of such model can achieve about several decimeters both in height and plan. The realized components of 3D site model generation technology is discussed: photogrammetric processing of initial photos to get digital elevation models of a terrain surface and 3D object geometry; construction of digital terrain models from GIS data; terrain surface textures generation; transformation of these 3D models to standard formats used by well-known systems of 3D objects and scenes construction.

A design method for multi-media simulation system is proposed in the paper. Taking the description of multi- media features as basis, the paper discusses the design process of model creation, simulation driving and simulation display for simulation system, gives out practical results. The system design provides a useful tool for the development and performance evaluation of airborne battlefield surveillance system.

A novel method for identifying and localizing brain hemorrhage is presented. The method uses electromagnetic waves in the microwave and RF region and a modified algorithm previously used for the estimation of the angle of arrival of radar signals. Results are presented applying this device for detecting subdural and intraparenchymal hemorrhages in anesthetized pig.

Current blood tests cannot provide rapid support for field medical emergencies that require blood in excess of the tested supply, especially, when additional blood needs to be drawn from the available walking pool. A fluorescence-based rapid infectious disease screening system, based on a disposable disk with an array of wash-free, one-step, membrane strips and an array of optical probes can be used to quantify a panel of transmissible diseases in parallel with high specificity, high sensitivity, and operational simplicity. We have designed and constructed a sandwich membrane assay platform and a laboratory prototype optoelectronic measuring device and used this combined system to quantify hepatitis C antibody over the concentration range of 2 ng/ml to 100 ng/ml in 3 to 5 minutes.

Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a prototype pulmonary diagnostic system capable of extracting signatures from adventitious lung sounds that characterize obstructive and/or restrictive flow. Examples of disorders that have been detailed include emphysema, asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, and pneumothorax. The system is based on the premise that acoustic signals associated with pulmonary disorders can be characterized by a set of embedded signatures unique to the disease. The concept is being extended to include cardio signals correlated with pulmonary data to provide an accurate and timely diagnoses of pulmonary function and distress in critically injured soldiers that will allow medical personnel to anticipate the need for accurate therapeutic intervention as well as monitor soldiers whose injuries may lead to pulmonary compromise later. The basic operation of the diagnostic system is as follows: (1) create an image from the acoustic signature based on higher order statistics, (2) deconstruct the image based on a predefined map, (3) compare the deconstructed image with stored images of pulmonary symptoms, and (4) classify the disorder based on a clustering of known symptoms and provide a statistical measure of confidence. The system has produced conformity between adults and infants and provided effective measures of physiology in the presence of noise.

Low-power, portable ultrasound imaging devices are well- suited for the diagnostic requirements of healthcare delivery on the modern battlefield. The non-invasiveness and good spatiotemporal resolution of ultrasonography allow for early detection of changes in tissue anatomy and material behavior that signal the presence of injury from exposure to biological hazards or disease processes that can jeopardize the performance of personnel in the field. This potential has not been fully realized however due to the presence of image degrading factors that make ultrasound imagery notoriously difficult to interpret. To detect and quantify tissue pathology from ultrasound, anatomical boundaries and tissue deformation in the images must be estimated accurately; this requires image processing in a way that suppresses noise while retaining salient tissue borders in the imagery. We focus here on detecting abnormalities in cross-sections of the carotid vessel boundary extraction and deformation tracking over time for the purpose of detecting abnormal tissue characteristics. We validate this concept in noisy simulated images derived from finite-element models of normal and abnormal vessel cross-sections, and in real ultrasound images from a human subject.

There is a need for real-time unobtrusive monitoring of the vital body chemistry and general health status of military personnel during training and in hostile battlefield environments. Monitoring the health of a soldier who is an integral part of a military mission is important, because a compromise in his/her ability to act at a certain moment could jeopardize the operation. The most accessible measure of a person's health at any given instant is his/her anaerobic metabolism rate (O₂ debt), which is indicative of the changes in skeletal muscle and cerebral oxygenation. Anaerobic metabolism data can be used by paramedics to save lives. Lactate levels are important measure of oxygen debt. Lactate is a weak acid that is produced by cells when they break down glucose to produce energy by anaerobic metabolism (a chemical process that does not require oxygen). In this project we developed, constructed, and tested a compact personal optical sensor for monitoring lactate via sweat metabolite analysis. The sensor quantifies the change of the optical properties caused by lactate chemistry. Our miniaturized noninvasive lactate sensor measures minute changes of the lactate between 0-130 mM in near real time.

Now that we are in the 21st century, military medicine struggles with critical issues. One of the most important is how we train in peace for the realities of conflict. Training 100,000 active duty military medical personnel is becoming insurmountable. A more effective solution may be training through computer simulation. Success requires a strategic plan and coordination among experts in their own fields, e.g., medical personnel, engineers, to ensure useful, valuable products. Research and development in fundamental sciences is required to permit realistic representations of anatomy and medical procedures. Enabling technologies are required, e.g., tissue modeling, haptics, physiological representations, systems architecture, learning systems. Medical Simulation Training Initiative (MSTI) is a visionary military program to develop a multi- functional simulation platform based on a personal computer, with 3-D imaging of anatomic compartments or body structures. Interfaces will likely be an exoskeletal robotic device, haptic gloves, and other interactive devices. MSTI will provide risk-free, realistic learning environments for the spectrum of medical skills training. This will enhance hands-on training opportunities and revolutionize how we train medically. High fidelity modeling will permit manufacturers to prototype new devices. Engineering designers can then test devices in varieties of simulated anatomical representations, permitting them to practice medicine.

A new approach to C4, in the form of supercomputer-path soft communication and computing (SC2), provides enabling technology baseline for teleparamedic and telementoring communication platforms and robotic systems. In particular, this new information technology offers full-duplex 2-D and/or 3-D wireless communication and interactive telepresence, as well as remotely-controlled semi-automatic sensing, within so-called telementoring scheme, being the specific brand of telemedicine. In this paper, we discuss the SC2 capabilities, including: 20-times, higher than prior art, compression of digital multimedia data (especially including digital video) with computing power higher than the of 100 Pentiums. The further extension of SC2- technologies, combined with nearly-autonomous teleparamedic scheme, will be also discussed.

Laparoscopic surgery reduces recovery time and risk of complications over conventional methods for abdominal procedures, making it particularly suited to battlefield medicine. However, laparoscopy challenges the surgeon to work under many limitations: motion is reflected about the trocar; access inside the body is restricted; visual feedback is generally only 2D; and haptic, or touch, information is reduced. As such, the importance of training for developing sensitivity to the existing haptic cues becomes apparent, and the problem arises of how to distribute the services of relatively few highly trained surgeons to widespread battlefield locations. A force- feedback haptic interface can play a critical role in both of these functions, providing realistic or enhanced sensations to a laparoscopy simulator or a telesurgery system. The work described here was directed at continuing the work of earlier force-feedback systems, which provide up to the first three degrees of freedom (DOF) in laparoscopy (pitch, yaw, and insertion relative to the trocar), toward creating a complete and high-fidelity haptic interface. Careful requirements analysis using data from surgeon interviews, operating room observations, and task analyses, was the basis for specifying the technical attributes and configuration of the new system. The resulting interface offers the surgeon real laparoscopic tools with force feedback to all five degrees of freedom in laparoscopy, using a lifelike torso in which trocar location is easily changed. A light and compact 2-DOF device was developed to supplement one of the available 3-DOF devices, providing the additional forces in tool rotation and gripper feedback. Next year, the system will be integrated into a software stimulation currently in development at the Center for Minimally Invasive Therapy (CIMIT).

Surgical training today, beyond what can be learned in didactic form or practice on animal or other models, is subject to the availability of appropriate training cases from which students can learn. This is especially true for battlefield surgery, as civilian hospitals may not expose doctors to frequent examples of relevant injuries. To provide a more uniform training experience, covering a standard suite of typical operations without relying on the misfortune of patients requiring surgery, many groups are developing computer-based surgical simulation systems. One of the current areas of development is the implementation of force and tactile (haptic) feedback in simulations. To create a model with realistic haptic feedback, knowledge of the material properties of the tissues in question is essential. While there is much data from tissue samples in vitro, the properties of living tissue in situ are mostly unknown. From the data that is available, it is clear that living tissue and tissue in vitro can have radically different mechanical properties. For this reason, our group is developing surgical tools that will be able to measure the force-displacement characteristics of a variety of tissues in living organisms. Taking these data over the range of frequencies relevant to haptic simulation provides information to extract stiffness and material damping parameters of different kinds of tissue. The tools are being designed for use during minimally invasive surgery, but will permit data to be acquired either during MIS or open procedures. Animal tests are expected to commence in early 2000, but the tools are being designed with safety considerations in mind for eventual use in humans. Data will be taken both for solid organs and for selected elements of the vasculature. These data will be used in simulation systems under development at the Center for Innovative Minimally Invasive Therapy at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Laboratory for Human and Machine Haptics at MIT.

Medical simulation offers the opportunity to revolutionize the training of medical personnel, from paramedics and corpsmen to physicians, allowing early learning to occur in a no-risk environment, without putting patients at risk during the professional's early learning curve. However, the complexity of the problems involved in the development of the medical training systems as well as the spectrum of scientific fields that need to be covered have been a major limiting factor to the achievement of realistic simulations. We think that success in this effort cannot occur through uncoordinated efforts among domain experts working within their own fields. Success will come through medical personnel working side by side with engineers, computer scientists and designers to develop a simulation system that is useful and relevant. As part of our overall program to develop medical simulation, we have identified a critical infrastructure technology that will enable collaboration among simulation developers. When implemented, this Common Anatomy Modeling Language (CAML) will provide a common architecture for integrating the individual components of a medical simulation system.