SAM #DARPA-PS-26-137

DARPA Firefox Program Solicitation: Non-Invasive Brain-Computer Interface R&D

DARPA's Biological Technologies Office is soliciting proposals for the Firefox program, focused on developing advanced, non-invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) technology. - Government Buyer: - Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Biological Technologies Office (BTO) - Program Objective: - Develop a 100-channel, non-invasive BCI with 50-micron spatial and 100-microsecond temporal resolution - Key Technical Areas: - Dynamic rastering/scanning components for coherent optical signals (TA1) - Analog data processing architectures for high-rate neural data (TA2) - Services Requested: - Research, design, fabrication, and demonstration of scalable optical beam steering and rastering systems - Development of analog domain processing architectures for optical speckle data, including hardware/software prototypes - Progressive milestone-based deliverables: design reviews, demonstrations, hardware handoffs, and metric alignment reports - Performance Metrics: - Scan rate, field of view, optical power, speckle alignment, dynamic range, and latency - Period of Performance: - 36 months, divided into three 12-month phases with option periods - Estimated Contract Value: - $4M–$7M total across multiple awards - Unique Requirements: - Non-invasive, scalable optical neural recording - Analog processing to reduce data rates and quantization noise - Hardware and software handoff for independent validation - No specific OEMs, vendors, part numbers, or purchase quantities are listed; the opportunity is open to innovative technology providers.

Description

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has developed a non-invasive coherent optical system capable of recording neural signals in humans. To expand this foundational technology and enable the development of revolutionary, non-invasive brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), DARPA's Firefox program is soliciting approaches to overcome key technological hurdles: 1) development of components enabling dynamic rastering/scanning of the incoming coherent optical signal to target multiple regions of interest and 2) development of new data processing architectures beyond the digital domain to handle the high data rates and computational burden inherent to scaling the amount of neural data recorded by the optical system. The ultimate goal of the Firefox program is to use these innovations to develop a 100-channel, non-invasive BCI with 50-micron spatial and 100-microsecond temporal resolution.

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