Man-Machine Integration Design and Analysis System

The Man-machine Integration Design and Analysis System (MIDAS) was a 3-D rapid prototyping human performance modeling and simulation environment that facilitated the design, visualization, and computational evaluation of complex man-machine system concepts in simulated operational environments.

It combined graphical equipment prototyping, dynamic simulation and human performance modeling with the aim of reducing design cycle time, supporting quantitative predictions of human-system effectiveness, and improving the design of crew stations and their associated operating procedures.

MIDAS linked a virtual human — a physical anthropometric character — to a computational cognitive structure representing human capabilities and limitations. The cognitive component included a perceptual mechanism (visual and auditory), memory, a decision maker and a response selection architecture (Micro Saint Sharp), and the interaction of bottom-up and top-down processes could produce unforeseen, non‑programmed behaviors.

midas, man-machine, human modeling, simulation, virtual human, anthropometric, cognitive model, human performance, rapid prototyping, response selection