The Air Force awarded Ostendo Technologies of Carlsbad, Calif., a $58.3 million contract to build a prototype “synthetic-holographic 3-D workstation.” The period of performance for this contract runs through October 2016, according to the award notice, which is included in the Pentagon’s list of major contracts for Aug. 15. The Air Force Research Lab is pursuing this technology with the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. IARPA released a solicitation in July 2011 calling for bidders. The two organizations seek a “dynamic, high-performance” 3-D display that is “simultaneously viewable by multiple people with the unaided eye,” states the solicitation. Current displays are unable to convey the massive amounts of data available to geographical intelligence analysts and lead to “strain and discomfort” for the analysts, according to IARPA.
In his first professional move since retiring from the Space Force at the end of August, former Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman will lead the board of advisors for Voyager Technologies, the firm announced Nov. 2.