Targeted event detection and prediction is a recently invented, sophisticated, artificial intelligence and data mining technique that was primarily developed to improve military processes.
The patented technology allows analysts to quickly discover and analyze behaviors, objects, or events of interest to a military or industrial process. It enables timely response and attribution analysis, and has the potential to vastly improve process optimization efforts. By virtue of the human-guided learning component, the intelligent system ultimately reduces false alarms through customized sensitivity adjustment for lower priority events.
The technology was invented by Dr. Misty Blowers, who drew upon her background as a young chemical process engineer working with the paper industry to develop the system. In her earlier career Dr. Blowers recognized a need to improve and modernize the rudimentary industrial processes being used in the paper industry. When she began working for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), she recognized many of the same problems persisted in military systems and set about applying her academic interest in artificial intelligence to improve the situation. While working on her Ph.D., Dr. Blowers’ thesis topic was combined with her enthusiasm to reach back to her prior experience and establish partnerships. In addition, she became a mentor and technical advisor to a number of startups that were seeking to license her technology and use it as the basis for their company’s business.
The patented technology allows analysts to quickly discover and analyze behaviors, objects, or events of interest to a military or industrial process.
Five startup candidates in the AFRL 2016 Commercialization Academy Program licensed Dr. Blowers’ technology and are using it as the basis for their company’s business. Dr. Blowers also reached back to her former partnerships with the paper and pulp industry to apply her technique to real-world, large-scale production processes. As part of a $4 million investment in facility improvements, Rock-Tenn Co. in Solvay, N.Y., is beta testing her technology on the factory floor. Harris Information and Cyber Solutions is applying it to automotive systems monitoring and industrial control systems as well.
The immediate recipient of the technology was the Department of Defense research community working on next-generation military systems. In addition, four licenses have been awarded for applications such as an "on-demand task force of hobbyist drones," process improvement for pulp and paper manufacturing, behavior analysis of autonomous vehicles, and cyber security. However, there is potential for numerous additional applications of this technology, including pharmaceuticals, oil and gas exploration, targeted campaign advertising, consumer market analysis, financial analysis, stock market prediction, and health assessment.