The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity has established a research plan to build 3-D models from satellite imagery that can be used within military and intel missions.
The Creation of Operationally Realistic 3-D Environment (CORE3D) is a multi-year program that will slash the amount of time it takes to build 3-D models, compared to current methods of creating them.
The agency wants to build libraries of models of objects like buildings, roads, walls or dams to help with mission planning. IARPA officials say that as well as mission planning, intelligence experts need situational awareness that can only be derived from fast access to geospatially accurate 3-D models.
“Automated methods lag behind manual approaches for creating 3-D models with respect to extracting mission relevant information and understanding scenes,” said CORE3D program manager Hakjae Kim. “While manually constructed models are accurate and reliable, the process to create them is time-consuming and does not satisfy the need for models to support rapid response to military or humanitarian crises in areas where up-to-date models do not exist.”
IARPA has already awarded research contracts for the CORE3D program through a competitive Broad Agency Announcement. Research contracts were awarded to teams led by Applied Research Associates, General Electric, Kitware and Vision Systems, Inc.