The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military.
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DARPA mission statement : “to make pivotal investments in breakthrough technologies for national security.”
Originally known as the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), the agency was created in February 1958 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in response to the Soviet launching of Sputnik 1 in 1957. Since its inception, the agency's mission is ensuring that the United States avoids further technological surprise. By collaborating with academic, industry, and government partners, DARPA formulates and executes research and development projects to expand the frontiers of technology and science, often beyond immediate U.S. military requirements.
From 1958 to 1965, ARPA's emphasis centered on major national issues, including space, ballistic missile defense, and nuclear test detection.During 1960, all of its civilian space programs were transferred to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the military space programs to the individual Services.
This allowed ARPA to concentrate its efforts on the Project Defender (defense against ballistic missiles), Project Vela (nuclear test detection), and Project AGILE (counterinsurgency R&D) Programs, and to begin work on computer processing, behavioral sciences, and materials sciences. The DEFENDER and AGILE Programs formed the foundation of DARPA sensor, surveillance, and directed energy R&D, particularly in the study of radar, infrared sensing, and x-ray/gamma ray detection.
ARPA at this point (1959) played an early role in Transit (also called NavSat) a predecessor to the Global Positioning System (GPS). "Fast-forward to 1959 when a joint effort between DARPA and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory began to fine-tune the early explorers’ discoveries. TRANSIT, sponsored by the Navy and developed under the leadership of Dr. Richard Kirschner at Johns Hopkins, was the first satellite positioning system."
DARPA supported the evolution of the ARPANET (the first wide-area packet switching network), Packet Radio Network, Packet Satellite Network and ultimately, the Internet and research in the artificial intelligence fields of speech recognition and signal processing, including parts of Shakey the robot. DARPA also funded the development of the Douglas Engelbart's NLS computer system and The Mother of All Demos; and the Aspen Movie Map, which was probably the first hypermedia system and an important precursor of virtual reality.
I first realized the breadth of DARPAs reach while studying virtual reality as part of a high school research program discussed in this post: https://steemit.com/education/@pynchon/my-experience-using-the-htc-vive-for-improving-learning-outcomes
I became aware of DARPAs role in virtual reality after stumbling upon America's Army a simulation used for military training built with Unreal Engine.
If you ever played Call of Duty, the game strikes me as very similar to that.
As I sidestep the blatant moral dilemma arising from governments creating violent virtual reality video games to recruit soldiers, I hope you guys get a kick out of what I will share next, since it took me quite a while to locate the name of this individual. Grab your safety blanket, this is where things get interesting.
Richard M. Satava, M.D. is currently a professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Washington.
Richard was the surgeon on the team that developed the first surgical robot, and developed the first virtual reality surgical simulators. For the past 15 years he has been at DARPA, and now US Army Medical Research Command, funding leading edge medical technologies at tens and hundreds of millions of dollars a year. He was awarded the Smithsonian Laureate in Healthcare in 1997 and 1999.
Prior positions include Professor of Surgery at Yale University and a military appointment as Professor of Surgery (USUHS) in the Army Medical Corps assigned to General Surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Program Manager of Advanced Biomedical Technology at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
I could write on this topic for days and while I thought to have an eye-opening slice of information regarding Dr. Satava, you have to read between the lines to really discover the truth behind his experiences at his alma mater as well as the positions he has previously held.
It goes without saying that the government was utilizing virtual reality for various purposes for at least the past 20 years, perhaps longer.
I need to chew on this subject a bit longer, then hopefully I will have more realizations to provide.
Thanks for reading!
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspen_Movie_Map