As modeling and simulation (M&S) applications and real-world systems become increasingly complex and automated, more reliance will be placed upon the computer system to assist and direct the human operator in the operation, use, and manipulation of the computer system. The ability of a computer system to guide and direct a human operator is based upon three main factors: prior or input information, current situational information, and operator goal information. The prior or input information includes information related to the individual operator, the objectives of the operator and system, and models of previous operations similar to the current one. The current situational information includes current operator status, current objective status, current systems status, and current environmental conditions. Operator goal information includes a variety of knowledge about operator past, present, and future uses of the system or direction of tasking for system components within the current environment and other relevant environments.

To acquire and utilize even the bare minimum of the information included in the previously mentioned factors surpasses current M&S system abilities and computing resources. One promising technology for addressing this shortfall within the M&S community is the employment of the research results from the behavioral and cognitive modeling, or user modeling, community. The need for user modeling is pervasive in many M&S application areas and, although not overtly present in many of these M&S systems, user modeling is a critical portion of most modeling and simulation systems for new development, especially intelligent agents. To realize future capabilities for M&S systems, they must incorporate the ability to effectively model the user and user needs within the environment. This paper will address this requirement by motivating the need for and describing the benefits of user modeling employment within M&S applications.