Office of Naval Research (ONR) Immersive Sciences Research Grant

• Federally Funded Research & Development Centers (FFRDCs), including Department of Energy National Laboratories, are not eligible to receive awards under this FOA. However, teaming arrangements between FFRDCs and eligible principal Applicants are allowed so long as such arrangements are permitted under the sponsoring agreement between the Government and the specific FFRDC.

• Navy laboratories, military universities and warfare centers as well as other Department of Defense and civilian agency laboratories are also not eligible to receive awards under this FOA and should not directly submit either white papers or proposals in response to this FOA. If any such organization is interested in one or more of the programs described herein, the organization should contact an appropriate ONR Technical POC to discuss its area of interest. The various scientific divisions of ONR are identified at http://www.onr.navy.mil/. As with FFRDCs, these types of federal organizations may team with other eligible sources from academia and industry that are submitting proposals under this FOA.

• University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs) are eligible to submit proposals under this FOA unless precluded from doing so by their Department of Defense UARC contract.

• Teams are also encouraged and may submit proposals in any and all areas. However, Applicants must be willing to cooperate and exchange software, data and other information in an integrated program with other contractors, as well as with system integrators, selected by ONR.

• Applicants should be aware of recent changes in export control laws. Applicants are responsible for ensuring compliance with all International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR) (22 CFR §120 et seq.) requirements, as applicable. In some cases, developmental items funded by the Department of Defense are now included on the United States Munition List (USML) and are therefore subject to ITAR jurisdiction. Applicants should address in their proposals whether ITAR restrictions apply or do not apply, such as in the case when research products would have both civil and military application, to the work they are proposing to perform for ONR. The USML is available online at http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?node=pt22.1.121. Additional information regarding the President’s Export Control Reform Initiative can be found at http://export.gov/ecr/index.asp.

Key Area No. 1: Automated methods for generating content and/or behaviors for use augmented and mixed reality technologies (with an emphasis on AR).

This area involves automated methods for generating content for immersive environments. Current methods of content generation are slow (e.g., manual creation), expensive, or require specialized equipment (e.g., LIDAR scanners) or expertise. The goal of this research is to develop tools and techniques for processing, extraction, and identification of 3D content from easily accessible sources, such as crowd-sourced photos and videos on the Internet. This content should include terrain, roads, buildings, people, vehicles, and other relevant environmental features necessary to create immersive environments that reflect the intricacies of future operating environments such as megacities. Proposals describing new and innovative techniques are welcome, as are proposals that seek to improve currently-existing techniques, such as photogrammetry. Technologies that allow for rough estimates of behavior patterns (but not full pattern of life) are also desired.

Key Area No. 2: Valid, reliable, and objective measures of presence and immersion.

This area involves objective measures of presence and immersion. The current state of the art involves subjective surveys or other measurements (e.g., behavioral or physiological) that may only correlate with increased presence instead of provide a direct measure. The goal of this research is to develop valid, reliable, objective, sensitive, and minimally-invasive techniques to quantify the amount of presence a person is experiencing in an environment compared to the real world and/or other baselines; and how the level of presence influences training and learning.

Key Area No. 3: A human-factors based taxonomy of visualization and interaction in AR.

The third key area involves developing taxonomies and/or theories of visualization and interaction, particularly in augmented reality. The current state of the art includes a variety of prototype AR user interfaces using a variety of interaction techniques, such as gestures in the air or control via a separate device. However, these prototypes are not thoroughly evaluated from a human factors perspective. The goal of this research would examine various use cases to develop and substantiate, with evidence, which AR visualization and interaction schemes are optimal.