DARPAMINDSEYEPROGRAM

IndustryDayAnnouncement DARPASN1034
March15,2010

DefenseAdvancedResearchProjectsAgency 3701NorthFairfaxDrive Arlington,VA222031714

DARPAMINDSEYEPROGRAM INDUSTRYDAYANNOUNCEMENT DARPASN1034 INTRODUCTION TheDefenseAdvancedResearchProjectsAgency(DARPA)willconductabriefingtoIndustry,on April20,2010,insupportoftheanticipatedMindsEyeprogramBroadAgencyAnnouncement (BAA).Thisannouncementservesasapresolicitationnoticeandisissuedsolelyfor informationandprogramplanningpurposes.Whenreleased,theBAAwillbefoundonthe FedBizOppswebsite,http://www.fedbizopps.gov. EVENTOVERVIEW TheMindsEyeprogramseekstodevelopinmachinesacapabilitythatcurrentlyexistsonlyin animals:visualintelligence.Humansinparticularperformawiderangeofvisualtaskswith ease,whichnocurrentartificialintelligencecandoinarobustway.Humanshaveinherently strongspatialjudgmentandareabletolearnnewspatiotemporalconceptsdirectlyfromthe visualexperience.Humanscanvisualizescenesandobjects,aswellastheactionsinvolving thoseobjects.Humanspossessapowerfulabilitytomanipulatethoseimaginedscenes mentallytosolveproblems.Amachinebasedimplementationofsuchabilitieswouldbe broadlyapplicabletoawiderangeofapplications. Thisprogrampursuesthecapabilitytolearngenerallyapplicableandgenerative representationsofactionbetweenobjectsinascenedirectlyfromvisualinputs,andthen reasonoverthoselearnedrepresentations.Akeydistinctionbetweenthisresearchandthe stateoftheartinmachinevisionisthatthelatterhasmadecontinualprogressinrecognizinga widerangeofobjectsandtheirpropertieswhatmightbethoughtofasthenounsinthe descriptionofascene.ThefocusofMindsEyeistoaddtheperceptualandcognitive underpinningsforrecognizingandreasoningabouttheverbsinthosescenes,enablingamore completenarrativeofactioninthevisualexperience. Oneofthedesiredmilitarycapabilitiesresultingfromthisnewformofvisualintelligenceisa smartcamera,withsufficientvisualintelligencethatitcanreportonactivityinanareaof observation.Acamerawiththiskindofvisualintelligencecouldbeemployedasapayloadona broadrangeofpersistentstaresurveillanceplatforms,fromfixedsurveillancesystems,which wouldconceivablybenefitfromabundantcomputingpower,tocameraequippedperchand staremicroairvehicles,whichwouldimposeextremelimitationsonpayloadsizeandavailable computingpower.Forthepurposeofthisresearch,employmentofthiscapabilityonman portableunmannedgroundvehicles(UGVs)isassumed.Thisprovidesareasonableyet challengingsetofdevelopmentconstraints,alongwiththepotentialtotransitionthe technologytoanobjectivegroundforcecapability. MindsEyestronglyemphasizesfundamentalresearch.Itisexpectedthattechnology developmentteamswilldrawequallyfromthestateoftheartincognitivesystems,machine vision,andrelatedfieldstodevelopthisnewvisualintelligence.Toguidethistransformative
DARPA MINDS EYE PROGRAM INDUSTRY DAY ANNOUNCEMENT - MARCH 15, 2010 2

researchtowardoperationalbenefits,theprogramwillalsofeatureflexibleandopportunistic systemsintegration.Thisintegrationwillleverageprovenvisualintelligencesoftwareto developprototypesmartcameras.Integratorswillcontributeaneconomicallevelofeffort duringthetechnologydevelopmentphase,supportingparticipationinphaseIprogramevents (PImeetings,demonstrations,andevaluations)aswellasdevelopmentofdetailedsystems integrationconceptsthatwillbeconsideredbyDARPAatappropriatetimesforincreasedeffort inphaseIIsystemsintegration. ThegoalsofIndustryDayarethreefold:1)tofamiliarizeparticipantswithDARPAsinterestin theMindsEyeresearchareaandtheforthcomingprogramrequirements,2)topromote understandingoftheBAAproposalguidelines,and3)topromotediscussionofsynergistic capabilitiesamongpotentialprogramparticipants.ItisDARPAsdesiretofacilitatethe formationofstrongteamsandbusinessrelationshipsinordertodevelopcomprehensive, qualityresponsestoanypotentialDARPAsolicitation.InformationontheMindsEyeBAAwill beavailableat:http://www.darpa.mil/tcto_solicitations.htmlfollowingthepublicationofthe BAAinFedBizOpps.FollowingtheIndustryDay,thewebsitewillcontainFrequentlyAsked Questions,presentationsfromtheIndustryDay,andanattendancelistforteamingpurposes. AttendanceattheIndustryDayisvoluntaryandisnotrequiredtoproposetosubsequentBroad AgencyAnnouncements(ifany)orresearchsolicitations(ifany)onthistopic.DARPAwillnot providereimbursementforcostsincurredtoparticipateinthisIndustryDay.TheIndustryDay doesnotconstituteaformalsolicitationforproposalsorabstracts.Attendanceislimitedto two(2)representativesperorganization. TentativeAgenda 1:002:00pm OpeningRemarksandProgramManagerPresentation ThissessionwillincludetheintroductionoftheDARPA MindsEyeProgramvisionandphilosophy,objectivesandgoals 2:002:15pm Break 2:153:30pm Q&ASession REGISTRATION RegistrationmustbecompletedbyApril16,2010viathefollowingsite http://tinyurl.com/MindsEyeIndustryDay. NOTE:Attendanceislimitedtotwo(2)representativesperorganization. DATE&LOCATION TheIndustryDaywillbeheldonApril20,2010,attheWashingtonMarriottatMetroCenter, locatedat77512thStreetNW,Washington,DC20005. http://www.marriottmetrocenter.com/

DARPA MINDS EYE PROGRAM INDUSTRY DAY ANNOUNCEMENT - MARCH 15, 2010