(Aug 10, 2012)

On September 6, 2012, Dr. Albert Ahumada and Dr. Andrew Watson of the Human Systems Integration Division will be awarded a 2012 Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) Far West Region Award for "Outstanding Commercialization Success" for their work on the Standard Spatial Observer (SSO). Invented by Dr. Watson, SSO provides a tool that allows measurement of the visibility of an element, or visual discriminability of two elements. The device may be used whenever it is necessary to measure or specify visibility or visual intensity. The SSO may be useful in a variety of applications, such as evaluating vision from unmanned aerial vehicles, measuring visibility of damage to aircraft and to the shuttle orbiter, predicting outcomes of corrective laser eye surgery, inspection of displays during the manufacturing process, estimation of the quality of compressed digital video, evaluation of legibility of text, and predicting discriminability of icons or symbols in a graphical user interface. The FLC is the nationwide network of federal laboratories that provides the forum to develop strategies and opportunities for linking the laboratory mission technologies and expertise with the marketplace, and the FLC Far West is one of six regions covering the United States. The FLC Annual Awards recognize outstanding contributions by member laboratories, representatives, and non-federal partners.