HR001119S0035-17.pdf

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer

(STTR)

Opportunity Announcement

HR001119S0035-17

Generative Immersive Scenario Testbed (GIST)

Which program will fund this topic?

SBIR

What type of proposals will be accepted?

Both Phase I and Direct to Phase II

Technology Area(s): Human Systems

I. INTRODUCTION

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Small Business Programs Office (SBPO) is issuing an SBIR/STTR Opportunity (SBO) inviting submissions of innovative research concepts in the technical domain(s) of Human Systems and Artificial Intelligence. In particular, DARPA is interested in understanding the feasibility of a Generative Immersive Scenario Testbed (GIST).

This SBO is issued under the Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for SBIR/STTR, HR001119S0035. All proposals in response to the technical area(s) described herein will be submitted in accordance with the instructions provided under HR001119S0035, found here:

https://www.fbo.gov/spg/ODA/DARPA/CMO/HR001119S0035/listing.html.

a. Eligibility The eligibility requirements for the SBIR/STTR programs are unique and do not correspond to those of other small business programs. Please refer to Section 3.1, Eligible Applicants, of HR001119S0035 for full eligibility requirements.

b. Anticipated Structure/Award Information Please refer to Section 1, Funding Opportunity Description provided in HR001119S0035 for detailed information regarding SBIR/STTR phase structure and flexibility.

If a proposer can provide adequate documentation to substantiate that the scientific and technical merit and feasibility described in the Phase I section of this topic has been met and describes the potential commercial applications, the Direct to Phase II (DP2) authority allows the Department of Defense (DoD) to make an award to a small business concern under Phase II of the SBIR program without regard to whether the small business concern was provided an award under Phase I of an SBIR program. This SBO is accepting DP2 proposal submissions.

For this SBO, DARPA will accept Phase I proposals for cost of up to $225,000 for a 9-month period of performance.

https://www.fbo.gov/spg/ODA/DARPA/CMO/HR001119S0035/listing.html

DARPA will accept DP2 proposals for cost of up to $1,750,000, to include:

A 12-month base (Year 1) not to exceed a cost of $500,000 for initial system assembly and initial testing against program metrics;

A 12-month increment (Year 2) not to exceed a cost of $500,000 for human subject testing, system refinement, and evidence of meeting at least one of the two program metrics;

A 12-month option period not to exceed a cost of $500,000 for iterative system refinement, testing, demonstration, and evidence of meeting both program metrics.

A separately priced option of up to $250,000 must also be proposed for contractors who would like to be considered for participation in the DARPA Embedded Entrepreneur Initiative (EEI). Refer to Section 2.5, DARPA Embedded Entrepreneur Initiative, of HR001119S0035 for detailed information on EEI.

Proposers should refer to Section 4, Application and Submission Information, of HR001119S0035 for detailed proposal preparation instructions. Proposals that do not comply with the requirements detailed in HR001119S0035 and the research objectives of this SBO are considered non-conforming and therefore are not evaluated nor considered for award.

Phase I proposals shall not exceed 20 pages. Phase I commercialization strategy shall not exceed 5 pages. This should be the last section of the Technical Volume and will not count against the 20-page limit. Please refer to Appendix A of HR001119S0035 for detailed instructions on Phase I proposal preparation.

DP2 Feasibility Documentation shall not exceed 40 pages. DP2 Technical Proposal shall not exceed 40 pages. Phase II commercialization strategy shall not exceed 5 pages. It should be the last section of the Technical Volume and will not count against the 40-page limit. Please refer to Appendix B of HR001119S0035 for detailed instructions on DP2 proposal preparation.

c. Human Subjects Research (HSR)/Animal Use Proposers that anticipate involving Human Subjects Research or Animal Use must comply with the approval procedures detailed at http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/additional-baa. For more information, refer to Section 4.7, Human Subjects/Research/Animal Use, of HR001119S0035.

Proposers are highly encouraged to clearly segregate research tasks from human and/or animal testing tasks to allow for partial funding while internal and DoD approvals are being obtained.

d. Evaluation of Proposals Section 5, Evaluation of Proposals, in HR001119S0035 provides detailed information on proposal evaluation and the selection process for this SBO.

e. Due Date/Time http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/additional-baa http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/additional-baa

Full proposal packages (Proposal Cover Sheet, Technical Volume, Price/Cost Volume inclusive of supporting documentation, and Company Commercialization Report) must be submitted via the DoD SBIR/STTR Proposal Submission website per the instructions outlined in HR001119S0035 no later than October 10, 2019 at 2:00 PM E.T.

II. TOPIC OVERVIEW

a. Objective

DARPA is seeking proposals to develop and demonstrate a system that generates novel 3D training and research testing scenarios that include humans behaving within environments from real-world scenes and/or 2D video. The objective is to create realistic training content more rapidly that allows the instructor to vary environments, populations, and situations for salient, realistic, and immersive experiences.

b. Description The transfer of knowledge from experienced to novice operators is limited partially by the availability and fidelity of training materials. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) show promise for facilitating such knowledge transfer. However, most scenarios and environments for AR and VR training are generated de novo which take extensive time to author and are often contrived and unrealistic. These synthetic scenarios rarely reflect the rich contextual features of environments, of heterogeneous populations, or of subtle and nuanced human interactions that belie the most difficult judgements in military decision making. Recorded events and scenarios reproduce realism and situational variability, however they are limited in number, do not provide sufficient unique examples for pedagogic or research purposes, and 2D presentations do not provide the same multidimensional, experiential outcomes as AR or VR.

Potential pathways for rapidly developing realistic, varied, immersive training content from real-world events have recently arisen, including:

Identifying and tracking multiple, distinct humans in crowded, real-world environments (Cao, et al., 2018);

Rendering 3D graphics from 2D video (Zhong et al, 2018; ); and Using Generative Networks for developing new content from real world training sets (Vondrick, et al., 2016).

DARPA is seeking innovative solutions for rapidly developing new training and testbed content scenarios from recorded real-world content using technologies that may include, but are not limited to the above examples. Proposers may consider “bare bones” approaches that minimize computational burden, and prioritize relevant information transfer rather than professional game-quality graphics. Technologies of particular interest: 1) include approaches that render and vary diverse, complex human interactions and unique, operationally relevant environmental variables; and 2) develop a system that can convert large libraries of content (e.g., street views or Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) video and images) into immersive experiences.

System metrics:

1) In 5 days or less, generate unique synthetic scenarios from raw video

2) Scale scenario development to 10-100 scenarios per unique input (10 high quality scenarios preferred over 100 low quality scenarios)

3) Demonstrated efficacy of generated scenarios for instruction outcomes (i.e., methods must provide useful scenarios)

Phase activities may follow, or deviate with justification, from the following development plan:

Phase I: 9 months. Feasibility study, system design, and protocol development Phase II Base, Year 1: 12 months. Initial system assembly and testing against program metrics Phase II Base, Year 2: 12 months. Whole system testing, system refinement, and evidence of meeting at least one of the two program metrics.

Phase II Option: 12 months. Iterative system refinement, testing, demonstration, and evidence of meeting all program metrics.

Successful proposals will:

1) Describe the approach necessary for meeting system metrics;

2) Detail the initial system concept and development activity to occur over all phases including use case for comparing training progress; and

3) Describe initial planned research for demonstrating training efficacy including planned comparisons against other specific methods.

c. Phase I Phase I will consist of a 9 month, empirical feasibility study using major components (hardware, software, or algorithms) of the prototype system and available data sets. The study will determine and describe a path for integrating or aligning multisource data streams and/or multi-algorithmic analysis, if applicable. While performers may wish to protect Proprietary Information (PI), teams should present a plan for demonstrating the independent reproduction of their results.

Performers will design and develop a written human subjects research (HSR) protocol including planned comparisons and statistical power analyses to estimate study sample sizes to be conducted in Phase II. Though not required to advance to Phase II, it is highly recommended performers submit the HSR application for Independent Review Board (IRB) and secondary review during Phase I to prevent delays in Phase II. Initial human studies may begin prior to Phase II if proper approvals are in place.

Successful Phase I projects will deliver:

1) Quantitative analysis of approach feasibility including a detailed pathway to reaching program goals and relevant trade studies with recommendations;

2) Initial detailed system design and development plan for Phase II;

3) Human subjects research (HSR) protocol – submission ready or submitted for review;

and

4) Submitted preregistration application(s).

Phase I fixed payable milestones for this program should include:

Month 2: Feasibility study plan including test components, planned trade studies, evaluation metrics (measures of performance and effectiveness), and analyses for all program metrics.

Month 6: Interim report describing initial study results. Draft detailed prototype design. Draft HSR protocol for Phase II.

Month 9: Final Phase I Report summarizing feasibility study results and analysis.

Initial prototype design including architectures and algorithmic approach. Study preregistration submission.

Proposers interested in submitting a Direct to Phase II (DP2) proposal must provide the system design, evidence of feasibility (e.g., pilot test results), past experience with human subjects research, and plans for preregistration. Sufficient documentation will include data describing component system efficacy including the time to generate content, scenario scalability, and computational requirements.

For detailed information on DP2 requirements and eligibility, please refer to Section 4.2, Direct to Phase II (DP2) Requirements, and Appendix B of HR001119S0035.

d. Phase II Phase II will consist of the assembly of the prototype GIST system and testing of the system’s efficacy for training purposes against state of the art for the performer-proposed use case. It will consist of three, 12-month funding periods, with decisions to exercise optional funding at Month 21 (Phase II, month 12) and Month 33 (Phase II, month 24).

Phase II Base, Year 1 deliverables will include:

1. Demonstration of system performance;

2. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of system performance against all metrics; and

3. Prototype system, demonstration and report describing the system’s performance, maturity of development, and results of the human study.

The minimum requirements necessary for the Phase II Base, Year 2 award include:

1. A demonstration of prototype performance towards all metrics, and maturity sufficient for human testing;

2. An IRB approved protocol including secondary HRPO review; and

3. Pre-registration of planned comparisons submitted.

The minimum requirements necessary for the Phase II Option include:

1. Demonstration the system has met at least one of the first two program metrics, and has shown progress towards the other two; and

2. Detailed and realistic plan for meeting the remaining unmet metric(s).

i. Schedule/Milestones

Phase II fixed payable milestones for this program should include:

Month 11 (Phase II Month 2): Detailed build and test plan for Phase II.

Month 15 (Phase II, Month 6): Detailed update of build progress and progress against program metrics, initial HSR findings, if applicable.

Month 21 (Phase II, Month 12):

o Interim Phase II Base, Year 1 progress report. Demonstration of prototype maturity sufficient for efficacy study. Update on HSR findings.

o If not already provided, protocol approved by an IRB, HRPO secondary review, and preregistered with a journal. HSR research will begin no later than Month 22 (Phase II, Month 13).

Month 27 (Phase II, Month 18): Interim efficacy report from HSR, updated system design and revisions.

Month 33 (Phase II, Month 24):

o Phase II Base, Year 2 progress report including updated design, system performance characteristics. Interim prototype/system demonstration, HSR study results, and plans for system refinement/revision.

o Evidence of meeting either metric 1 or 2, and demonstrated progress towards the other two metrics.

o Detailed plan for Option period, if awarded.

Month 39 (Phase II, Month 30): Interim report against Option milestones and towards meeting all program metrics.

Month 45 (Phase II, Month 36). Final Report including performance data against all program metrics and description performance characteristics (e.g., under what conditions does the system perform well or poorly). Final prototype demonstration.

e. Dual Use Applications (Phase III) The sought after technology development has potential applications in private industry, Defense, and Law Enforcement.

Industry:

Gaming. Rapid generation of video game content (backgrounds, character movements, etc.) to reduce game development costs.

Online learning. Instructive simulation in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and other virtual training programs.

Defense applications Tactical training. Virtual scenarios for visuospatially intense environments such as urban operations and house-clearing/shoothouse training.

Social/cultural understanding. Knowledge transfer from experienced to novice operators in a foreign area of operations to familiarize forces with local customs, behaviors, and gestures.

System interaction development. For developing usability test scenarios while designing, developing and refining systems that humans will operate.

Other Government Law enforcement training. Deriving training scenarios from police bodycam data.

f. References

1. Cao, Z., Hidalgo, G., Simon, T., Wei, S. E., & Sheikh, Y. (2018). OpenPose: realtime multi-person 2D pose estimation using Part Affinity Fields. arXiv preprint arXiv:1812.08008.

2. Vondrick, C., Pirsiavash, H., & Torralba, A. (2016). Generating videos with scene dynamics. In Advances In Neural Information Processing Systems (pp. 613-621).

3. Zhong, L., Lu, M., & Zhang, L. (2018). A direct 3D object tracking method based on dynamic textured model rendering and extended dense feature fields. IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, 28(9), 2302-2315.

g. Keywords Voltage Multiplier, Capacitor, Additive Manufacturing, Design, Design for Manufacture, Fabrication, gradient materials, manufacturing process, subtractive manufacturing.

III. SUBMISSION OF QUESTIONS

DARPA intends to use electronic mail for all correspondence regarding this SBO. Questions related to the technical aspect of the research objectives and awards specifically related to this SBO should be emailed to HR001119S0035@darpa.mil. Please reference BAA HR001119S0035-17 in the subject line. All questions must be in English and must include the name, email address, and the telephone number of a point of contact.

DARPA will attempt to answer questions in a timely manner; however, questions submitted within seven (7) calendar days of the proposal due date listed herein may not be answered.

DARPA will post a consolidated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document. To access the posting please visit: http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities. Under the HR001119S0035-17 summary, there will be a link to the FAQ. The FAQ will be updated on an ongoing basis until one week prior to the proposal due date.

In addition to the FAQ specific to this SBO, proposers should also review the SBIR/STTR General FAQ list at: http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities?tFilter=&oFilter=29934. Under the HR001119S0035 summary, there is a link to the general FAQ.

Technical support for the DoD SBIR/STTR Proposal Submission website is available Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET. Requests for technical support must be emailed to sbirhelpdesk@u.group with a copy to sbir@darpa.mil.

mailto:sbirhelpdesk@u.group mailto:sbir@darpa.mil