On the Design of a Task Based Human Simulation System

A common request from users of human simulation tools is for functionality that allows rapid definition of task sequences and subsequent, largely automatic, “what if” scenario evaluation. A review of the high level requirements collected from feedback on our previous implementation forays of such systems is presented, and a new framework is suggested to address the broad set of identified requirements. The framework, called the Task Simulation Builder, is characterized by a flexible and extensible architecture centered around a learning type task controller. Minimum user input is required to describe a scenario of events and obtain a simulation output, yet through output refinement feedback, the resulting simulation can progressively be made as detailed as needed. The overall goal of the system is to improve the efficiency of human modeling use in production environments.