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Think Avatar for military spies. Pentagon far-out research arm Darpa wants to turn surveillance into a 3-D experience for troops. It has launched the Fine Detail Optical Surveillance
(FDOS) Program, and are requesting proposals for prototypes of optical
imaging systems that would use “advanced high-resolution 3-D imaging
technology.” Darpa wants two kinds of surveillance systems: portable
units for active battle and drone-ready systems for unmanned planes.

The agency wants proposals that start from scratch, using a fundamentally new model for obtaining video footage. The 3-D surveillance should be able to monitor moving targets with high
resolution, from different ranges, and without the need for users to do
much legwork, like scanning or refocusing on a target. Darpa
anticipates that 3-D surveillance would boost field of vision and depth
of vision “by over 100X” compared to existing systems.

That’s a big step up from the best drone surveillance in use right now. According to Darpa, current spy-cam systems with 3-D capabilities are big and unwieldy, and can only handle a small surveillance zone
without user input. The new 3-D models, by comparison, should rapidly
identify targets that are as tough to spot as ”a needle moving along
the surface of a haystack.” Plus, they’d solve one of the biggest
complaints about Predator video feeds: Depth perception is often lost
in grainy footage, and the view is so narrow that it’s been likened to
“looking through a soda straw.” This new project holds the possibility
of changing that. Next step is doing something about the motion
sickness that goes along with swooping in the air.

The military’s already working on other out-there video systems, like Gorgon Stare: a sensor that can film an area two-and-a-half miles around from 12 different angles. But even the most impressive UAV sensors still
operate with camera lenses, whereas the 3-D systems wouldn’t: Darpa
anticipates the use of advances in focal-plane arrays, laser technology
and image processing algorithms. Exactly how they want the 3-D systems
to work is still under wraps: part of the solicitation remains
classified.

Of course, going 3-D isn’t without its challenges. Much like the downsides of new 3-D television sets, the surveillance would require a specific degree of dim lighting to get optimal footage. Three-dimensional TVs are also being derided for
causing eyestrain and headaches, but Darpa’s current solicitation seems
more concerned with out-of-this-world surveillance than troops’ ocular
health.

If Darpa’s really interested in following Hollywood trends, they might want to take note of the progress among Australian researchers. Last month, an Aussie company debuted a hovering drone that was right out of Avatar, and the federal government just handed out $1.01 million for the development of a 3-D surveillance system that’s being compared to “a game of Doom.”