Fwd: DoD SBIR 2003.2 solicitation is open for proposal submission

[Rex Brooks <rexb@starbourne.com>]

Darn, they went and put one in this batch of topics which is 
unavoidable. I expect Rob and I will collaborate again, but I also 
wanted to just let everyone know that there is at least one SBIR 
topic which is applicable.

Rob, Please let me know when will be a good time for us the chat on 
Yahoo IM about this. I suspect we can just dust off the last 
proposal, for required elements and only work on the ones necessary 
for the SBIR as opposed to the STTR we did. We will probably have to 
check with our resources for some new capabilities but I don't 
foresee great problems.

We have till Aug. 14. I will look at other topics, but this one is 
custom fit to the work I just finished and shows HumanML in the best 
possible light. Couldn't ask for more. I suspect that the mocap work 
is totally applicable as well.

Ciao,
Rex

DARPA - 21
DARPA SB032-038 TITLE: Integrated System for Emotional State 
Recognition for the Enhancement
of Human Performance and Detection of Criminal Intent
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors, Electronics, Battlespace, Human Systems
Approved for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited
OBJECTIVE: Develop a non invasive emotion recognition system for the 
detection and categorization of the emotional/stress state of the 
subject. The system should be suitable for deployment in 
military/operational environments or in environments in which 
discrete observation of potential enemy threats is desired.
DESCRIPTION: Humans communicate both intentionally and 
unintentionally through a variety of emotional expressions. These 
expressions are most easily observed in the speech patterns, facial 
expressions, and body language of the individual. From these 
expressions we naturally draw inferences about an individual's 
hostile or friendly intent, or their level of stress, fatigue, or 
confusion. In many circumstances, however, it is difficult or 
impossible for human observers to make the necessary observations of 
another's emotional expressions and make
reliable assessments of the individual's future actions or 
capabilities. The observer's own emotional or psychological states 
can affect such judgments, or the individual of interest may be in an 
operational environment that is not conducive to direct observation 
by others. In addition, there is information available on the 
emotional or stress state of the individual that has not yet been 
explored or exploited; examples of this include thermal imaging of 
the human face and body and detection of chemosignals (e.g. 
pheromones, volatile steroids).

Automated emotion detection systems could perform such assessments 
around the clock and free from personal bias. Such systems could be 
used to assess fitness for duty, integrated into closed loop systems 
regulating user vigilance and workload, or used to detect the 
sinister intent of individuals and prompt pre-emptive interdictions. 
These systems could unobtrusively monitor individuals within military 
operational environments or crowded civilian settings by relying on 
passive detection of the emotional aspects of speech, face, and 
gesture patterns and other
novel measurements. The current effort would build upon existing 
technologies and incorporate novel remote sensing technologies to 
develop systems capable of detecting, categorizing, and responding to 
the emotional information encoded in human speech, facial 
expressions, gestures and other emitted signals. Key 
emotional/cognitive states detected should include, but need not be 
limited to, anger, drowsiness, anxiety, fear, confusion, 
disorientation, and frustration. The necessary systems must be 
capable of functioning in crowded civilian and/or 
military/operational environments characterized by high background 
noise and multiple speech sources and should be sufficiently rugged, 
light weight, and unobtrusive to function in military/operational 
environments.

PHASE I: Conduct an exploratory study to characterize and describe 
the emotional states that will be detected. Determine the feasibility 
of an emotional state recognition system that incorporates at least 
two of the following: speech, facial expression, gesture and one 
additional sensor to detect novel biometrics like chemosignals 
(pheromones, volatile steroids) or thermal imaging.

PHASE II: Design and develop a prototype integrated emotional state 
recognition system for testing in a realistic environment. Prototypes 
should not merely assess, but give a categorization as to the state 
of the user. Conduct testing under varying stress conditions and 
operational demands.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: This system could be used in a broad 
range of military and civilian applications where automatic real-time 
detection of cognitive, emotional, or stress state would permit 
assessment of and proactive interdiction to improve worker fitness 
for duty - for example, in long-duration flight operations or in 
managing vigilance for air-traffic controllers.

>X-Priority: 3 (Normal)
>Importance: Normal
>Approved-By:  DoD SBIR/STTR Listserv <dod_sbir@BRTRC.COM>
>Date:         Tue, 1 Jul 2003 14:34:06 -0400
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>From:         DoD SBIR/STTR Listserv <dod_sbir@brtrc.com>
>Subject:      DoD SBIR 2003.2 solicitation is open for proposal submission
>To:           SBIRLIST@LISTSERV.DODSBIR.NET
>X-Rcpt-To: <rexb@STARBOURNE.COM>
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>Status: U
>
>The DoD SBIR 2003.2 solicitation is open for proposal submission 
>from July 1 to August 14, 2003. Five DoD components -- the 
>Departments of the Army and Navy; the Defense Advanced Research 
>Projects Agency (DARPA); the Office of Secretary of 
>Defense/Director, Defense Research and Engineering (OSD); and the 
>U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) -- have R&D topics in this 
>solicitation under which Phase I proposals are sought. You can 
>access the solicitation, which contains detailed information on the 
>parameters of the SBIR program and how to submit a proposal, and 
>topic files at http://www.dodsbir.net/solicitation. You may also 
>search the topics by going to http://www.dodsbir.com/Topics.
>
>Proposals must be submitted via the DOD SBIR Submission website at 
>http://www.dodsbir.net/submission following the instructions 
>contained in the solicitation, including the instructions specified 
>in the topic files for the DoD component to which you are applying. 
>Submissions must include the proposal cover sheets, technical 
>proposal, Company Commercialization Report, and cost proposal to be 
>considered a complete proposal. Small businesses submitting 
>proposals through the Submission website may modify their proposals 
>at any time until the solicitation closing on August 14, 2003 at 6am 
>EST. Offerors bear the risk of website inaccessibility due to heavy 
>usage in the final hours before the solicitation closing time, so 
>plan ahead and submit early. If you have any questions please 
>contact the DoD SBIR help desk at 866-724-7457 or by email at 
>sbirhelp@brtrc.com.
>
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-- 
Rex Brooks
GeoAddress: 1361-A Addison, Berkeley, CA, 94702 USA, Earth
W3Address: http://www.starbourne.com
Email: rexb@starbourne.com
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