DARPA-SN-26-113.pdf

DARPA-SN-26-113

Future Program Announcement

Special Notice DARPA-SN-26-113 Firefox

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Biological Technologies Office (BTO

Technical POC: Pedro Irazoqui, Program Manager E-mail: firefox@darpa.mil

BACKGROUND:

The purpose of this Special Notice (SN) is to provide public notification of additional research areas of interest to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Biological Technologies Office (BTO), specifically for the contemplated forthcoming Firefox program.

If released, the solicitation will be made available at https://sam.gov/.

PROGRAM GOALS:

The scientific community has pursued chronic, high-channel-count neural recording modalities to enable higher-order brain computer interfaces (BCIs) for over five decades; however, no reliable, chronic recording interface exists for human use that avoids surgical implantation while achieving near single-unit spatiotemporal resolution.

Building on the success of prior investments, DARPA has developed a non-invasive coherent optical system capable of recording neural signals at cortical depth in humans with high spatiotemporal resolution. To expand this foundational technology and enable the development of revolutionary BCIs, DARPA is seeking approaches to expand the optical capabilities of this approach by innovating in both beam-steering and analog data processing.

While the foundational optical system exists, advancing this system to a high-performance, multi-channel BCI requires significant innovation in two specific areas. First, Firefox seeks to develop a dynamic rastering/scanning component to steer and expand the optical signal to target multiple regions of interest. Second, Firefox seeks to pioneer new data processing architectures capable of moving beyond the digital domain to handle the high data rates and computational burden inherent to scaling the amount of neural data the optical system can record.

Ultimately, Firefox aims to use performer-developed optical components and data processing methodologies to prove and de-risk the technology pathway to a 100-channel non-invasive brain-computer interface with 50-micron spatial and 100-microsecond temporal resolution, replacing the need for highly invasive, surgically implanted electrodes in the BCIs of today.

Firefox is a 36-month program with three 12-month phases that address two parallel technical areas (TAs). The first technical area (TA1) will focus on beam control (rastering/scanning) while the second technical area (TA2) will encompass the development of optical signal processing architectures in the analog domain. Performer teams are expected to have a range of expertise mailto:firefox@darpa.mil https://sam.gov/ including but not limited to laser physics, optical/photonic signal processing, analog circuit design, wavefront engineering, adaptive optics.

DARPACONNECT:

For those new to DARPA or national security, DARPA makes available a free, comprehensive resource via DARPAConnect on how to do business with the agency. In addition to DARPA 101 materials, relevant preparatory modules include “Making the Most of a Proposers Day” and “Understanding DARPA Broad Agency Announcements.” Registration and access are free at www.darpaconnect.us.

ADMINISTRATIVE:

This Special Notice does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals. This notice is issued solely for information and program planning purposes and is not a Request for Information (RFI). Since this is not an RFI, DARPA will not accept any submissions against this notice.

Interested parties to this notice are cautioned that nothing herein obligates DARPA to issue a solicitation. NO CLASSIFIED INFORMATION SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN ANY

COMMUNICATIONS IN RESPONSE TO THIS SPECIAL NOTICE.

Please e-mail firefox@darpa.mil if you wish to be added to our blast list for future program updates (i.e., Proposers Day announcement, Program Solicitation publication, etc.).

http://www.darpaconnect.us/ mailto:firefox@darpa.mil