Army Research Laboratory Technical Report: Human Purposive Movement Theory (ARL-TR-5954) Ground Movement Detection and Identification Technologies Used in Military and Law Enforcement Settings

The human purposive movement theory posits that human physical behavior is goal oriented, quantifiable, and predictable. In addition, the basic characteristics of that movement are universal in nature by humans whether they are operating on their own or when using conveyances, and that the characteristics of human/machine system outputs are quantifiable and suitable for the creation of predictive algorithms. This theory coupled with fused sensor systems and robust detection and classification algorithms should enhance the understanding of human physical behavior in applied settings and may be suitable to predict human physical actions in military intelligence or other applied settings. This report reviews the basic theory and provides examples of developmental and operational technologies that could use this theory in common settings.

This report reviews the elements of the human purposive movement theory as well as the developmental and existing ground movement detection and identification technologies used to identify targets on the ground in military and law enforcement settings. The systems under review allowed users to detect, identify and classify ground targets that are characterized by locational movement. The goal of the human purposive movement theory is to intuit the movement patterns of targets of interest through sensor systems and then predict what the goal of those targets might be in the future via automated algorithm application.

The theory of purposive movement was originated by Bruce P. Hunn in 2008 as he was evaluating several developmental test programs involving surveillance systems for the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. As a result of work on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secure Border Initiative Project (SBInet) 2008-2010, as well as other prior and post-surveillance programs of interest to the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, he proposed a unified theory to account for human physical movement and its relationship to human-defined goals.

Goal achievement behavior has been studied extensively in the psychological domain. The works of E. A. Locke as well as G. P. Latham and other pioneers of goal-setting theory have focused on the principles of human goal setting for over 35 years.