another DARPA initiative: "Urban Reasoning and Geospatial Exploitation Technology (URGENT)"

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Ross Stapleton-Gray <ross () stapleton-gray com>
Date: January 22, 2007 12:16:02 PM EST
To: dave () farber net
Subject: another DARPA initiative: "Urban Reasoning and Geospatial  
Exploitation Technology (URGENT)"

DARPA is planning a brief to industry on another new initiative,  
"Urban Reasoning and Geospatial Exploitation Technology (URGENT)":
http://www.fbo.gov/spg/ODA/DARPA/CMO/SN07%2D16/Synopsis.html

In a nutshell, "We've got baseline models for what the ground looks  
like in urban environments; we can use air- and spaceborne imagery  
and radar to figure out where person-sized objects are against that."

According to the published synopsis, "The URGENT goal is to achieve a  
100x increase in analyst productivity with equal or better accuracy  
compared to the unassisted human image analyst."

Looking at the DoD solicitations over the past several years, there's  
been a great deal of emphasis on sensors/analysis aimed at detection/ 
tracking of individuals; not at all surprising (e.g., focusing on  
insurgents, and not Soviet tanks), but worth keeping in mind, vis-a- 
vis the issues of civilian surveillance and privacy/anonymity/freedom  
of association/assembly in our republic.

Ross


----
Ross Stapleton-Gray, Ph.D.
Stapleton-Gray & Associates, Inc.
http://www.stapleton-gray.com
http://www.sortingdoor.com






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