Sea of Japan, March 2015: Electrician's Mate 2nd Class Babatope Erinfolami (right) and Hisao Nagashima of Ship Repair Facility testing division take readings after a successful full-power run aboard the Arleigh-burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54) during sea trials. Curtis Wilbur is part of Destroyer Squadron 15 and forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan. (Navy photo by Hospital Corpsman Chief Petty Officer Andres Santamaria) The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.
By: FEDweek StaffSailors and Marines on the guided missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur are being outfitted with rings and watches specially rigged to monitor total sleep time and other biometric data. The effort is being conducted by the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC), and is taking place while the ship is at sea during this year’s RIMPAC (Rim of the Pacific) exercise, taking place June 27 through Aug. 1.
The scientists hope to get a better handle on the effects of sleep deprivation, predict fatigue, and identify sailors who would be considered high risks should they not get enough rest.
The rings and watches were developed by a team from NHRC and the Lincoln Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Data hubs on the ship will collect information from the devices as sailors and Marines pass through common spaces such as mess areas, according to the Navy.
The system is in a development cycle that includes iterative testing and refinements that [each time] get us closer to what the envisioned end state of the system will be: an offline, passive, intuitive, wearable device hub system that blends into the background of a ship without requiring extensive manual steps from either research staff or the crew of the ship,” said Dr. Rachel Markwald of NHRC.
“Being aboard the Curtis Wilbur for RIMPAC while ships are operating at a high tempo allows our research to be as realistic as possible,” said Navy Lt. Matthew Peterson, a NHRC research physiologist.
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