Tools for Automated Analysis of Networked Verbal Communication

One of the richest sources of information about performance in networked teams is their communication data. Nevertheless, analysis of communication requires tools that can assess both the content and patterns of information flowing in the network. This paper describes research and development of a set of tools for the automatic analysis of verbal communication. The tools use language technologies to analyze the content of communication, thereby permitting characterization of the topics and quality of information being transmitted. The tool can be used for automatically deriving accurate team performance metrics from communication in networked teams as well as providing visualization tools to provide teams and commanders better situational awareness. The toolset has the potential for providing near-real-time assessment of team performance including measures of situation awareness, knowledge gaps, workload, and detection of critical incidents. It can be used for tracking teams' behavior and cognitive states, determining appropriate feedback, and for automating After Action Reviews.