DARPA Open Catalog of Resources

Brought to my attention, the DARPA open catalog, which links to available computational, analytical and visualization resources.  Note mention of XDATA and Big Data resources.  Worth a look:  " ... contains a curated list of DARPA-sponsored software and peer-reviewed publications. DARPA funds fundamental and applied research in a variety of areas including data science, cyber, anomaly detection, etc., which may lead to experimental results and reusable technology designed to benefit multiple government domains. 

The DARPA Open Catalog organizes publically releasable material from DARPA programs, beginning with the XDATA program in the Information Innovation Office (I2O). XDATA is developing an open source software library for big data. DARPA has an open source strategy through XDATA and other I2O programs to help increase the impact of government investments. ... " 

DARPA Learning Machines

New kinds of machine learning have been an emphasis of DARPA.  In Wired,   " ... The Pentagon’s blue-sky research agency is readying a nearly four-year project to boost artificial intelligence systems by building machines that can teach themselves — while making it easier for ordinary schlubs like us to build them, too.

When Darpa talks about artificial intelligence, it’s not talking about modeling computers after the human brain. That path fell out of favor among computer scientists years ago as a means of creating artificial intelligence; we’d have to understand our own brains first before building a working artificial version of one. But the agency thinks we can build machines that learn and evolve, using algorithms — “probabilistic programming” — to parse through vast amounts of data and select the best of it. After that, the machine learns to repeat the process and do it better.... "

Recall previously discussed, DARPA's xData Project,   I see that a number of the external links on this thread have oddly now gone away, so I have corrected them to a general source.

Scanning the Brains of Dogs

In Wired:   An article about how DARPA is planning to scan the brains of dogs to make better choices of military pairings.  An interesting idea that could look at things like task optimization for applications.  The research might also ultimately also lead to new learning for human neuroscience as it can be practically applied.

DARPA Pushes Open Source

DARPA continues to push open source technology solutions, leading to more agile and modular systems, which can lead to even broader democratization of data and systems.    " ... This fall, the (retired) eighth Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff described a potential future of the military that’s founded not only in open source thinking, but in next-generation user interfaces and biohacking straight out of science fiction. If even some of the strategic thinking he described at this year’s Military Open Source Conference in D.C. is applied to how the technology that supports the next generation of war fighters is built, dramatic evolutionary changes could cascade down the entire supply chain of one of the world’s biggest organizations ... " 

Note my involvement in and coverage of the DARPA XData big data evaluation project.  More here.

Multiple Government Big Data Initiatives

Information Week on multiple government big data initiatives.  And you can add another, the DARPA xData initiative.    " ... A trio of federal agencies is looking to engage the American public to garner ideas about how to best utilize the massive amounts of data housed on government servers. NASA has joined forces with the Energy Department and the National Science Foundation to launch "The Big Data Challenge" -- a series of four contests, beginning with an "ideation challenge" designed to find new tools and methods for analyzing unique data sets ... " 

Pack Mule

DARPA's pack mule for the soldier is getting closer to reality.  Saw some early tests in robotics exhibitions but wondered if it would ever be used.  Expect the appearance of other forms of walking drones as well.

Cybernetic Binoculars

I have been following a number of DARPA developments.  Here a project which seeks to link brain waves and sensor interactions.  A kind of brain augmentation that we will see more of.    " ... DARPA's Cybernetic Binoculars Tap Soldiers' Brains To Spot Threats  ... The U.S. Army and DARPA have concluded field tests on next-generation binocular replacements that read human brain signals and have a 91% threat detection success rate. They might just help you control your car with your thoughts too ... " 

DARPA sees Analog

My introduction to digital computing came just as the last courses were taught using analog methods.   The convenience of digital devices was so overwhelming that you could easily see analog methods disappearing completely.  Yet there were then and are now examples where analog works better.   DARPA looks at this future.  " ... the DoD is funding a new program called UPSIDE, short for Unconventional Processing of Signals for Intelligent Data Exploitation. Basically, the program will investigate a brand-new way of doing computing without the digital processors that have come to define computing as we know it ... " 

Deep Natural Language Analysis

Of Interest:  Another DARPA example I have just examined.  Automated, deep natural-language understanding technology may hold a solution for more efficiently processing text information. When processed at its most basic level without ingrained cultural filters, language offers the key to understanding connections in text that might not be readily apparent to humans. DARPA created the Deep Exploration and Filtering of Text (DEFT) program to harness the power of language. Sophisticated artificial intelligence of this nature has the potential to enable defense analysts to efficiently investigate orders of magnitude more documents so they can discover implicitly expressed, actionable information contained within them.

DARPA Unshredding Challenge

In CACM:  Solved it says.   I encountered a related problem very early in my enterprise career.  Not involved with anything secret.   We partially solved the problem and got real value from it.  These additional learnings would have helped considerably.  It has been known for a long time that paper shredding is insecure.   We used a 'pulping' method that mixed paper with water and created a sludge.   The background of the challenge

" ... To seek "unexpected advances" that could be applied to such situations, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) issued its Shredder Challenge in October 2011, daring the public to unshred five documents and extract their hidden messages. The puzzles were designed to be progressively difficult on multiple axes, ranging from about 200 chads to more than 6,000 each. Text files accompanying the scanned chads provided questions, with points reflecting each question's difficulty. For example, puzzle #3 asked "What is the indicated location?" while the reassembled document showed a set of geographic coordinates and a drawing of Cuba. (Naming the country was worth two points; the city of Cienfuegos was worth an additional six.) Solvers needed to both answer the questions and show how their reconstruction of the document led to that answer. More than 9,000 teams applied for the challenge, but only 69 of them answered one or more questions correctly.... "

DARPA Seeks Radical Data Analysis

I had long ago involvement with DARPA, they are building up their large scale data involvement. An example:  Military Transformers: 20 Innovative Defense Technologies (click image for larger view and for slideshow) The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is planning an unusual eight-week residency program in which teams of researchers brainstorm over ways to use visual and geospatial images to identify people, places, objects, and activities .... " 

DARPA and XDATA

Currently taking a closer look at DARPA XDATA:  " ... To enable large scale data processing in a wide range of potential settings, XDATA plans to release open source software toolkits to enable collaboration among the applied mathematics, computer science and data visualization communities ... " 

Robotics Challenge for Disaster Response

A very detailed  DARPA challenge for robotics in the area of disaster response.  In IEEE spectrum.   I have been surprised that more has not been done in this context.  It is an obvious application.   At the same time, disasters are by their nature chaotic, and the advanced pattern recognition needed to address chaotic environments is more difficult.

The Pentagon and Augmented Reality

And as you might expect, the US DOD is very interested in the idea of hands-free augmented reality displays.  They have played in this space in a number of ways in the past, including early heads-up displays in aircraft.   In the enterprise we tested the idea for maintenance applications, but at the time they were not appropriate.  Now their time may have come.  Integrating them in contact lenses could remove some of associated issues we encountered:

"  ... DARPA orders prototypes of Innovega's iOptik displays that use special contact lenses so a person can focus both on images shown on the lenses and far-away objects for augmented reality.... " 

Cognitive Computing Page

A  reconnect with some IBM researchers led me to revisit their cognitive computing presence:

" ... Researchers at IBM have been working on a cognitive computing project called Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE). By reproducing the structure and architecture of the brain—the way its elements receive sensory input, connect to each other, adapt these connections, and transmit motor output—the SyNAPSE project models computing systems that emulate the brain's computing efficiency, size and power usage without being programmed.

IBM is combining principles from nanoscience, neuroscience and supercomputing as part of a multi-year cognitive computing initiative. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded approximately US$21 million in new funding for phase 2 of the SyNAPSE project. For this project, a world-class, multi-dimensional team has been assembled, consisting of IBM researchers and collaborators from Columbia University; Cornell University; University of California, Merced; and University of Wisconsin-Madison.... "

Air Force Social Radar

The idea of air force social radar sounds much like neuromarketing efforts underway today, but some more seriousness involved.   Reading minds all the way down to the intent level is still some time away.  Thoughts like those expressed could result in DARPA like developments that could be spread back into the marketing context.

Blob Robot

IRobot, best known for its Roomba floor sweep ing robot, has developed a prototype robot for DARPA that can fit into tight spaces via its morphable form. Robotic forms do not need to be anthropomorphic. More in IEEE Spctrum.