Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Contracts Management Office (CMO), 3701 N. Fairfax Dr., Arlington, VA 22203-1714

A -- RESEARCH DIRECTIONS IN SMART SPACES AND INFORMATION VISUALIZATION SOL RFI 98-04 DUE 022598 POC Dr. Kevin L. Mills, DARPA/ITO, FAX: (703) 522-7161 RESEARCH DIRECTIONS IN SMART SPACES AND INFORMATION VISUALIZATION SOL RFI 98-04 DUE 02/25/98 POC Dr. Kevin L. Mills, DARPA/ITO, FAX: (703) 522-7161. In accordance with FAR 35.007(j), the Information Technology Office (ITO), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), is issuing this exploratory request for ideas relating to research and development directions that would significantly enhance the current state-of-the-art in the area of information technology. Ideas submitted should lead towards revolutionary advances in the state-of-the-art, rather than evolutionary improvement to the state of practice. GENERAL INFORMATION: This Commerce Business Daily notice, which constitutes the complete RFI package, is not a Request for Proposals (RFP), and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals nor will any award be made as a result of this synopsis. The Government is not interested in specific company capability information and will not entertain such submissions. Any costs incurred as a result of responding to this announcement shall be borne by the respondent and cannot be charged to the Government for reimbursement. All information contained in the RFI is preliminary, as well as subject to modification, and is in no way binding on the Government. As a result of ideas submitted in response to this RFI, DARPA will acknowledge receipt of the submission, but will not provide feedback. However, DARPA/ITO might invite selected individuals to present talks, might plan and conduct invited workshops on relevant topics, etc. NO PROPRIETARY DATA SHOULD BE SUBMITTED. ANY SUBMISSIONS WILL BE CONSIDERED TO BE PUBLIC INFORMATION AND MAY BE HANDLED BY NON-GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL. This RFI incorporates by reference FAR 52.215-3, 3Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes (OCT 1997),2 with the same force and effect as if it were given in full text [reference paragraph (c) of this provision, the 3purpose2 of this RFI is detailed in this announcement]. The following are three related topics concerning information spaces about which DARPA/ITO seeks ideas. While each of these topics stands alone, some might also be considered together; for example, ideas in information visualization might be applied to navigating and understanding smart spaces. In addition, advanced ideas on other topics related to those described below might be of interest to ITO. For all topics, DARPA is especially interested in responses that: 1. Identify new directions, i.e., envision ways of using information technology that could not be realized with the existing technology base; 2. Identify visionary applications that could motivate a coordinated effort by the research community to develop convincing demonstrations of the new capability; and 3. Identify significant obstacles and provide plausible approaches to overcoming them. I. SMART SPACES: Due to advances in wireless technology and mobile computing, users will soon be able to roam in a variety of geographically distributed environments, while maintaining seamless connectivity. In addition, the falling price of computing power will enable an increasing number of common objects to possess an intelligence heretofore reserved for general-purpose computers. This confluence of trends presents an opportunity to explore innovative ways of connecting mobile users and computers with intelligent objects embedded within smart spaces. Such smart spaces might consist of stationary cells, such as offices and conference rooms, and of mobile cells, such as vehicles. Ideas are sought for enabling intelligent objects in smart spaces to be exploited by mobile computing devices carried by users and for enabling mobile and stationary smart spaces to interact among themselves. Problems of possible interest include: augmenting intelligent objects to make them network-accessible; creating discovery mechanisms that enable mobile devices to discover intelligent objects within smart spaces; translating between device control interfaces and exported interfaces of intelligent objects; and composing intelligent objects into complex subsystems. II. INFORMATION VISUALIZATION: An increasing number of automated processes produce voluminous data that cannot be represented directly and straightforwardly using conventional 3-D graphics. Such processes include military planning and campaign conduct, execution of complex computer systems, the population of world-wide web information spaces, and the accumulation of military intelligence data. Domain-independent techniques and approaches are sought for visualizing such abstract information. III. VISUAL INTERACTION: Recent advances in immersed visualization and gestural input, coupled with algorithms for analyzing image, video, and audio inputs, suggest the possibility of new, and more effective, paradigms for interaction between users and the simulated and real worlds contained within or accessible through computer systems. Ideas are sought regarding new approaches toconnecting visualizations with the information or physical system being visualized, in order to interact with the underlying information or system through the visualization. In the case of physical systems with actuators, new approaches are sought to allow a user to control the physical system through interaction with its visual metaphor. SUBMISSION FORMAT: Responses should be 2-4 pages in length (not counting the cover page). An original and six (6) copies of the RFI response should be submitted to: DARPA/ITO, ATTN: RFI 98-04, 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203-1714. Alternatively, responses may be sent via electronic mail to rfi98-04@darpa.mil in plain ASCII or as a Postscript attachment. Electronic submission is strongly recommended. ASCII will be printed 72 characters to the line, 60 lines to the page. Postscript attachments should use 12 point Times New Roman font. Submissions should have the nature of an extended abstract. Each response should develop a single "idea" and should comprise the following sections: Section I. Cover Page: Each submission should clearly identify the following information on a cover sheet or as prefix text to e-mail submissions: Line 1: Title, Line 2: Topic area covered in the submission, Line 3: Name(s) of submitter(s), Line 4: Telephone number, Line 5: e-mail address, Line 6: Institution, company, or organization, and Lines 7-10: Mailing address for response. Section II. Details of Submitted Idea: (1) Innovative Capability Envisioned -- Describe the nature of an innovative advance that might be achieved with respect to the topic to which you are responding. Where possible, quantify the new capability that could be realized.(2) Possible Applications and Benefits -- Cite specific examples of potential demonstration applications that could be used to inspire a broad-based research effort. (3a) Major Technical Obstacles -- Describe specific technical obstacles that must be surpassed in order to achieve the envisioned advance. (3b) Plausible Approaches -- Describe technical approaches that could be explored to overcome the major technical obstacles. Section III. Additional Information: In addition to the required 2-4 page submission, respondents are encouraged to attach a brief list of key citations, including URLs if available. Respondents are also permitted to include a relevant paper. For this, electronic submissions may use either a URL or a postscript file. Submissions will be considered as submitted if they are received at DARPA by 4:00 PM (ET), Wednesday, February 25, 1998. All administrative correspondence and questions concerning this announcement may be directed to one of the following administrative addresses: Fax: 703-522-7161 Addressed to DARPA/ITO, RFI 98-04, Electronic Mail: rfi98-04@darpa.mil, Electronic File Retrieval: http://www.ito.darpa.mil/Solicitations.html, Mail: DARPA/ITO, ATTN: RFI 98-04, 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203-1714. (0357)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0016 19971229\A-0016.SOL)