WEBVTT 00:15.690 --> 00:17.240 - [Narrator] Situational awareness, 00:17.240 --> 00:18.510 knowing where soldiers are, 00:18.510 --> 00:20.420 and what is happening in real time, 00:20.420 --> 00:23.620 is a critical aspect of any military mission. 00:23.620 --> 00:26.410 The advent of the smartphone provided an opportunity 00:26.410 --> 00:27.733 to address this concern. 00:28.860 --> 00:32.540 - So the smartphone is a Star Trek device. 00:32.540 --> 00:36.690 It has a dozen capabilities in one thing 00:36.690 --> 00:40.540 which when combined together are completely new 00:40.540 --> 00:42.370 from a capability perspective. 00:42.370 --> 00:44.030 - [Narrator] Software development by a team 00:44.030 --> 00:46.710 of AFRL scientists and engineers, 00:46.710 --> 00:48.380 aided by rigorous field testing 00:48.380 --> 00:50.930 with the Air Force Special Operations Command, 00:50.930 --> 00:54.730 resulted in the creation of an Android app called ATAK, 00:54.730 --> 00:56.910 the Android Team Awareness Kit, 00:56.910 --> 00:59.540 an interactive smartphone mapping application 00:59.540 --> 01:02.450 that can track multiple team members in real time. 01:02.450 --> 01:05.030 - They could look down and see where everybody is, 01:05.030 --> 01:06.820 they could communicate with them, 01:06.820 --> 01:10.810 text or video, one click communication. 01:10.810 --> 01:13.090 - [Narrator] ATAK was used by Special Forces, 01:13.090 --> 01:15.280 but Kohler wanted to have the technology 01:15.280 --> 01:17.550 adopted across the Department of Defense 01:17.550 --> 01:20.480 before outside developers came in with something similar. 01:20.480 --> 01:24.670 - I wanted one application that other people could build on. 01:24.670 --> 01:27.430 A standard extensible platform 01:27.430 --> 01:30.240 that provides the basics for everybody, 01:30.240 --> 01:32.680 and the customizability that everybody needs. 01:32.680 --> 01:35.080 - [Narrator] To do that, Kohler sought to have ATAK 01:35.080 --> 01:37.960 offered as an open source software application. 01:37.960 --> 01:39.670 - What he was asking for 01:39.670 --> 01:42.870 was something the DOD had never done before. 01:42.870 --> 01:45.780 - Ralph Kohler had these, he's a very brilliant man, 01:45.780 --> 01:47.940 and he looked up every instruction 01:47.940 --> 01:49.840 that says this is what I can do. 01:49.840 --> 01:52.847 And he said, "It didn't say I couldn't do a license 01:52.847 --> 01:54.800 "that he was envisioning". 01:54.800 --> 01:56.460 In other words, a freeware. 01:56.460 --> 01:58.170 - [Narrator] Offering ATAK as freeware 01:58.170 --> 02:00.440 would not only assure faster adoption, 02:00.440 --> 02:02.690 but it would enable upgrading and new uses 02:02.690 --> 02:04.640 for the government owned application. 02:04.640 --> 02:09.490 - If the government has a thing and you build on it, 02:09.490 --> 02:11.100 the government gets it. 02:11.100 --> 02:13.440 - We came up with a particular license 02:13.440 --> 02:16.790 that we were already authorized to use, 02:16.790 --> 02:19.800 it was a non-exclusive license, and we modified that. 02:19.800 --> 02:22.640 - We created a portal, and a company can log in, 02:22.640 --> 02:26.160 fill in all the information, and then once it's approved 02:26.160 --> 02:28.500 the company can go back on that website 02:28.500 --> 02:31.000 and they can auto generate the license. 02:31.000 --> 02:33.350 - [Narrator] The novel licensing strategy worked. 02:33.350 --> 02:35.270 Not only has ATAK seen adoption 02:35.270 --> 02:37.040 across the Department of Defense, 02:37.040 --> 02:38.780 but within months of its release, 02:38.780 --> 02:42.350 over 50 companies licensed the ATAK software. 02:42.350 --> 02:44.623 One of those companies was AV Watch. 02:46.090 --> 02:49.510 - AV Watch, we are doing several things. 02:49.510 --> 02:54.130 One, we have a deployable response capability. 02:54.130 --> 02:55.730 We have a fleet of aircraft 02:55.730 --> 02:58.213 that are networked to the ground. 02:59.210 --> 03:02.210 We're networked into multiple communications networks 03:02.210 --> 03:04.100 so we can communicate easily. 03:04.100 --> 03:06.850 - [Man] Can you move the center of your one mile orbit? 03:07.797 --> 03:09.480 - We can stream situational awareness 03:09.480 --> 03:13.010 to people on the ground of what's happening in real time. 03:13.010 --> 03:16.430 We did it for the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill, 03:16.430 --> 03:19.290 we did it for Mississippi River flooding, multiple fires, 03:19.290 --> 03:23.090 hurricane Irene, hurricane Sandy, the Boston Marathon, 03:23.090 --> 03:26.080 scheduled events we can provide that service. 03:26.080 --> 03:27.150 - [Narrator] ATAK is used by 03:27.150 --> 03:29.120 federal law enforcement and security, 03:29.120 --> 03:31.000 the Department of Homeland Security, 03:31.000 --> 03:33.403 as well as other important government agencies. 03:34.920 --> 03:39.160 - If you see a huge event on TV, it's probably there. 03:39.160 --> 03:41.120 - ATAK is used by somebody 03:41.120 --> 03:44.160 to keep track of the security for that event. 03:44.160 --> 03:45.900 - [Narrator] ATAK's wide spread adoption 03:45.900 --> 03:47.690 as an affordable, easy to use, 03:47.690 --> 03:50.450 secure interactive communication system 03:50.450 --> 03:54.500 is a testament of the work of AFRL scientists and engineers, 03:54.500 --> 03:56.650 and to a technology licensing model 03:56.650 --> 03:58.963 that will provide benefits for years to come. 04:00.630 --> 04:02.360 For more information contact 04:02.360 --> 04:04.533 the Air Force Technology Transfer program.