RemoteReality Awarded DARPA Contract to Fund Additional Military and Commercial Applications of 360-Degree Immersive Imaging Technology.Business/Technology EditorsWESTBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 26, 2000 RemoteReality, a provider of tools and services to businesses for creating immersive, interactive content, today announced it has been awarded a Phase II contract by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), U.S. government agency administered by the Department of Defense (see Defense, United States Department of). (DARPA DARPA: see Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) The name given to the U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency during the 1980s. It was later renamed back to ARPA. ) under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR SBIR Small Business Innovation Research (program/grant) SBIR Space Based Infra-Red SBIR Speaker-Boundary Interference SBIR Site Backsurface-referenced Ideal Plane/Range (silicon wafers) ) Program. DARPA is the federal agency responsible for the birth of the Internet and was an early proponent One who offers or proposes. A proponent is a person who comes forward with an a item or an idea. A proponent supports an issue or advocates a cause, such as a proponent of a will. PROPONENT, eccl. law. of RemoteReality's technology. Under this effort, RemoteReality will refine its high-resolution omni-directional imaging systems for advanced government applications, such as military robotics robotics, science and technology of general purpose, programmable machine systems. Contrary to the popular fiction image of robots as ambulatory machines of human appearance capable of performing almost any task, most robotic systems are anchored to fixed positions . RemoteReality also plans to leverage the technology advances spawned by the DARPA contract into commercial applications such as security, industrial inspection and video conferencing See videoconferencing. (communications) video conferencing - A discussion between two or more groups of people who are in different places but can see and hear each other using electronic communications. . DARPA resides within the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. Department of Defense (DoD). DoD's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program is the largest source of early stage research and development federal funding available in the United States for small (500 or fewer employee) high-tech companies. The SBIR program awards more than $500 million annually to companies whose R&D projects serve a DoD need and have commercialization potential in both the private sector and military markets. The program has helped to create hundreds of small business success stories like RemoteReality and has generated billions of dollars for the U.S. economy. "The SBIR Program has been an excellent vehicle to commercialize technology from the DARPA Image Understanding research program. RemoteReality's omni-directional imaging technology has already shown promise in novel configurations for tactical mobile robotics, tactical sensors and video surveillance. The higher resolution capabilities being developed under Phase II will significantly increase the military utility of the technology, with direct relevance to a number of varied commercial applications," said George Lukes, Program Manager, DARPA Information Systems Office. "DARPA has long been recognized as an elite technology incubator incubator, apparatus for the maintenance of controlled conditions in which eggs can be hatched artificially. Incubator houses with double walls of mud, a fireroom, and several compartments each holding about 6,000 hens' eggs were developed in ancient times; the , going back as far as its development of the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency NETwork) The research network funded by the U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). The software was developed by Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN), and Honeywell 516 minicomputers were the first hardware used as , the forefather of today's Internet. Consequently, DARPA's support of RemoteReality's technology is particularly gratifying grat·i·fy tr.v. grat·i·fied, grat·i·fy·ing, grat·i·fies 1. To please or satisfy: His achievement gratified his father. See Synonyms at please. 2. ," said Hapet Berberian, senior vice president and general manager of RemoteReality's Integrated Systems group. "We are pleased to have the opportunity to continue our work with DARPA on the second phase of this omni-directional imaging project." Phase II Contract Builds on Earlier RemoteReality/DARPA Collaboration The Phase II contract builds on work RemoteReality conducted for DARPA as part of an earlier contract to develop technologies for remote viewing and surveillance. The combination of advanced technology and simple design enabled the RemoteReality product to rapidly become an industry-first for offering government and public sectors the ability to use 360-degree immersive images without the complicated and costly processes associated with other methods. About DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is the central research and development organization for the Department of Defense (DoD). It manages and directs selected basic and applied research and development projects for DoD, and pursues research and technology where risk and payoff are both very high and where success may provide dramatic advances for traditional military roles and missions and dual-use applications. For more information on DARPA programs visit their Internet web site at www.darpa.mil. About RemoteReality RemoteReality provides tools and services to businesses for creating immersive, interactive content that engages and entertains viewers. RemoteReality enables the instantaneous, real-time capture of a 360-degree space. Using off-the-shelf digital still or video cameras, Web developers, content creators See content provider. and interactive agencies can quickly and inexpensively create valuable content that builds and extends brands, entertains and engages prospects or customers. For more information, please visit RemoteReality's Web site at www.remotereality.com. |
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