DOD seeks virtual versions of military parents to talk to kids at home

Computerworld - The U.S. Department of Defense is looking for researchers who can build applications that will enable family members to interact with parents serving far from home in the military.

The DOD started accepting proposals for PC- or Web-based video, high-resolution 3-D rendering, artificial intelligence and/or voice recognition applications last Nov. 11. Researchers can submit new proposals until Jan. 14.

"The challenge is to design an application that would allow a child to receive comfort from being able to have simple, virtual conversations with a parent who is not available in-person," wrote the DOD in its online request for proposals. "Deployments put stress on the entire family, especially small children, and communication is key. The ability to reach out and communicate with loved ones from areas of conflict is better than at any time in history. Nevertheless, the stresses of deployment might be softened if spouses and especially children could conduct simple conversations with their loved ones in immediate times of stress or prolonged absence."

The agency said it is looking for researchers and application developers to use advanced interactive multimedia computer technologies to build applications that "give the illusion" of a natural conversation. The government also points out that voice-recognition and voice-interaction capabilities are required.

"This is a technologically challenging application because it relies on the ability to have convincing voice-recognition, artificial intelligence, and the ability to easily and inexpensively develop a customized application tailored to a specific parent," the DOD wrote in its solicitation.

Proposals also need to include the expertise of psychologists and family advocacy experts, along with information on how personal information could be collected, recorded and used, the Web site noted.

Using artificial intelligence to mimic a conversation and bond between parent and child might not seem so far-fetched to some -- Intel Corp. CTO Justin Rattner, for example, said last summer that human and computer intelligence will merge in 40 years.

In an interview with Computerworld, Rattner said that as early as 2012, we will see the lines between human and machine intelligence begin to blur. Nanoscale chips or machines will move through our bodies, fixing deteriorating organs or unclogging arteries, he predicted. Virtual worlds will become increasingly realistic, while robots will develop enough intelligence and humanlike characteristics that they will become companions, not merely vacuum cleaners and toys, he said.

And one artificial intelligence researcher said in an interview that robotics will make such dramatic advances in the coming years that humans will be marrying robots by the year 2050. Robots will become so humanlike -- having intelligent conversations, displaying emotions and responding to human emotions -- that they will be very much like a new race of people, said David Levy, a British artificial intelligence researcher who wrote the book Love and Sex With Robots.

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