CogGauge (A Cognitive Assessment Tool)

The Cognitive Gauge (CogGauge) tool aims to develop a portable gaming application that assesses cognitive state of astronaut crew members with the goal of determining probable causes of observed cognitive deficits. CogGauge, while engaging astronauts in an entertaining experience, combines predictive tools for assessing cognitive workload with metrics that assess performance decrements. CogGauge uses a hybrid approach combining predictive workload values with behavioral/performance-based workload assessment across a number of task difficulty levels. This comprehensive approach takes into consideration learning effects across a number of cognitive tasks (i.e., mini-games in the gaming context) and derives assessment of performance decrements related to cognitive deficits to identify probable causes of cognitive decrement. Feedback from CogGauge may be provided to astronauts and/or flight surgeons to determine impact on space flight and missions.