2 description - massachusetts institute of technology
TRANSCRIPT
4 ITR: Information Technology Expeditions
Overview: GO + Expeditions + Information Technology
This is a proposal for a four-year, $4m thrust to create a new a cross-
cutting program of field expeditions as drivers for information
technology research. Initially, MIT’s new GO (Global Opportunities) office
will engage an unusual amalgam of partners (National Geographic,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Explorers Club, MIT’s Earth
Sciences Initiative, MIT’s Media Lab). This alliance is uniquely capable of
launching bold expeditions that can systematically drive information
technologies beyond the walls of typical lab-bound research, and can
carry IT work, and IT workers, into ecological and societal realms that are
expansive and place intense demands on technical ingenuity.
The program also creates a new series of university-wide “Great
Explorers” lectures, regular research meetings, and hosts a major
symposium on world activities in these areas in year three. If successful,
these will be among the most rousing fresh steps on MIT’s campus.
Getting computer science out of the lab is not always easy. And scientific
expeditions traditionally occur in disjoint academic pockets (almost
never in computer science departments). Due to tight budgets and the
plain difficulty of achieving “escape velocity” from a bustling campus,
expeditionary work is relatively rare. Modern expeditions of course draw
on all manner of computer-mediated instrumentation, and all scientific
expeditions seek to gather information in more effective ways. But very
few of them engage mainstream IT research energies with much force, or
advance the IT field per se substantially. Most expeditionary teams simply
don’t have access to top-notch IT facilities and people.
Yet few pursuits fire up more intellectual adrenaline than a powerful
expedition. By his own admission, had he not lucked into a berth on the
HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin would have luffed along to pursue a Ph.D. in
his chosen field (Divinity!) and might well have become Pastor Darwin,
creationist. Instead, he visited Amazonia, the Galapagos, Tierra del
Fuego, and more. That three-year voyage was mindblowing. Darwin is
not an isolated case. And ours is an era in which pressing ecological
concerns and world social issues demand the most liberal and inspired
application of information technologies. More than ever, the world is our
IT laboratory. Our proposed expeditionary program is designed to
provide strong incentives for cross disciplinary teams to engage a broad
array of IT research on tough real-world problems. The impact — in
terms of stimulating new ideas in the field; in stirring fresh energy and
inspiration among students in IT research; in reorganizing university field
activities; and in worldwide outreach — could be substantial.
Partner main web sites:
MIT GO:go.mit.edu
MIT Media Lab:www.media.mit.edu
MIT Earth Systems Initiative:web.mit.edu/esi
National Geographic Society:www.ngs.org
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution:www.whoi.edu/home
Explorers Club:www.explorers.org
New perspectives as seen in the Galapagos(photo: M.J.Hawley)
2 Description
ITR: Information Technology Expeditions 5
The next section, Background, traces some prior expeditionary steps,
shows how they benefitted from and enriched the liberal array of IT skills
within the Media Lab, and touches on advancements in both IT and non-
IT sciences. We then outline Four New Expeditionary Thrusts and their
IT Challenges. Each of these proposed expeditionary tracks is seen as a
“forcing function” to push on different IT problems; taken together, the
partnerships and results could be highly synergistic. Beyond piloting
new expeditions, several other Key Program Components are required
to give the program a more substantial reach both at MIT and in wider
communities (via lectures, symposia, partner-driven broadcast media,
and expansion steps). We conclude with probable Impact on IT
Research and Beyond. As this is a medium-sized proposal, and
organizes partnerships and activities that are different from typical IT
research, the Management Plan and the development of the
Expeditionary Alliance are discussed.
Background: Prior IT Expeditions and their Results
Hawley, the main proposer, was instrumental in creating and leading a
number of major and minor consortium-driven IT research efforts at the
Media Lab. Widely published and recognized, they include Things That
Think (to explore the diffusion of IT into a vast array of everyday artifacts
and architectures); Toys of Tomorrow (to reinvent toys as a means for
advancing digital media and infrastructures creatively); and Counter
Intelligence (to invent new systems and applications of digital media in
the kitchen, and in the household infrastructure). These programs drew
together about 75 corporate sponsors from notably eclectic industries.
In a sense, these could be termed “expeditionary,” for they involved a
startling array of creative technologies and applications (many of which
would be labeled “out of box thinking”) and were often pursued far
beyond Cambridge. It is not hard to imagine the diverse spectrum of IT
challenges that partners like Nike, Disney, Mattel, Kraft Foods, Procter &
Gamble, Motorola, Swatch and the International Olympic Committee
bring to the table.
Under these consortium auspices, a handful of interesting field
expeditions were conducted. For example, in 1997, one of Hawley’s
teams ran the Boston Marathon. The runners were equipped with the
first generation of wearable body monitors. This was one of the earliest
prototypes to demonstrate that notion, and it helped to articulate a
number of challenges as well as possibilities. Since then, a multitude of
companies and academic teams have taken up the “body net” problem.
Proposed Expeditionary Thrusts:
1. Advanced Media Systems / National Geographic
2. Ecologic Sensor Arrays / MIT Earth Systems
3. Deep Sea Visualization / Woods Hole
4. Animal Communication / Explorers Club
Key Program Components:
1. Explorer’s Lectures
2. Meetings and world Symposium on expeditionary technologies
3. Core staff for GO.
4. Expeditionary Alliance
Hawley home page: www.media.mit.edu/~mikeThings That Think: ttt.media.mit.eduCounter Intelligence: www.media.mit.edu/ciMedia Lab Sponsors:
www.media.mit.edu/sponsors/sponsors.html
Wearable body monitors for marathon run.Georeferenced sensor output (S.F. marathon)(photo: W. Chappell)
6 ITR: Information Technology Expeditions
In 1998, together with the Boston Museum of Science, NASA, Yale, and
members of the Explorers Club, Hawley’s group led some of the most
substantial scientific work on Mount Everest. The expedition worked on
geology, climatology, physiology, and telemedicine. Efforts included
completion of the GPS summit survey with Trimble; deployment of a
system of weather probes that transmitted daily climate data via ARGOS
satellite direct to internet feeds for close to a year; and further steps in
building wearable body monitors in order to study the physiology of
climbers at altitude (Lau, 1998). (Live video as well as internet service
was also established from Base Camp. In those days, this was something
of a technical feat. Now it is de rigeur). Later that summer, Hawley’s
students instrumented bicycles with a suite of sensors (for human vital
signs, bike measurements, weather, GPS) and rode them over 3,000 miles
from Seattle to Cape Cod, logging data the entire way. At about the
same time, the body monitoring systems used on Everest were field
tested with US Army rangers at Fort Benning, GA. Another student used
similar equipment to measure the performance of protective motorcycle
suits in European grand prix races. And another built similar sensors into
jewelry with Harry Winston (a kind of expedition into haute couture).
These projects were well “outside the box” of even our own eclectic
consortium research. Nonetheless, they invited technology challenges
(many of which have yet to be adequately resolved) and were
magnetically attractive to students and sponsors. They pointed the way.
In 1999, we began a focused $1.2m/y program, sponsored by DARPA,
to invent new architectures for “embedded sensor packs.” Much of our
experimental apparatus needed ensembles of sensors tethered into
nimble systems, but we were plagued by inadequate infrastructures.
Sensor networks did not exactly assemble like LEGOs.
To exercise our new sensor network architectures, we conducted a series
of field tests. For example, cross country skis were instrumented with
sensors to measure kinematics and efficiencies of skiing. These were
tested in Iceland and Norway. One of our students with a geology
background adapted the sensor architecture for use in a handheld tool
that combined mini GPS, tiltmeters, and a camera, and took it to
Greenland to further a field survey of the eastern geological shield (see:
web.mit.edu/dtfg/www/index.html). In January of 2001, Prof. Hawley’s
team partnered with Prof. Kim Bridges at the University of Hawaii to
build and deploy Tephranet (Wheeler, 2001). This was an innovative
network of eco-monitors to measure the environment around rare
Body sensors in use on Mt. Everest.K. Kamler outfits climber Nimatashi Sherpa.(photo: M. Hawley)
Computerized tandem for 3000-mile C2C ride.
US Army Soldier monitoring system.(photo: M. Redin)
Ski kinematic sensor system.(photo: M. Hawley)
ITR: Information Technology Expeditions 7
plants. Nodes were camouflaged as rocks or tree stumps, contained an
array of sensors (light, moisture, temperature, etc), and used a new self-
organizing radio network to move the data around like a bucket brigade.
This was a particularly successful experimental step: it offered new
insights into plant biology; prototyped an innovative form factor that
DARPA embraced; and helped to map out an important new class of
micro radio networks. (It also grew into an entrepreneurial success: the
students who did that work are now very successfully running Ember
Corporation to pioneer these new embedded networking techniques).
In retrospect, these early expeditions, for the most part conducted on a
shoestring, all helped to pull the fabric of digital infrastructures in new
directions. But when we began, we did not intend to mastermind a
series of expeditions. In fact, we were mostly doing other lab-related
projects. The expeditions were creative tangents, almost like a skunk
works. The first designs for embedded sensor packs and self-organizing
wireless meshes and body monitors were done before those IT areas
emerged as discernible (now vogue) pursuits. But importantly, each step
was driven by a blunt field problem (measure the weather on Everest for
a year; track a soldier’s physiology to prevent collapse due to exhaustion;
find a way to monitor rare plants sparsely scattered around Volcanoes
National Park without spoiling the scenery; etc). Many of these of course
drew on the confluence of IT themes and skills that were percolating
within Things That Think and the rest of the Media Lab. In each case,
though, expeditionary pressures not only focused the development,
and pushed the technology into new domains. They also exposed
generations of students to a plethora of “real world” challenges.
As a byproduct of work on Everest, for example, students came to
understand the Sherpa culture in Nepal and the potential impact of rural
telemedical systems there. Live classroom video links from base camp
brought the expedition into student hands at universities, schools and
research meetings in the US. ABC television (Peter Jennings; Nightline)
relayed the expedition live to mass audiences. Recent activity has
included emphasis on advanced digital photography techniques, tested
in Bhutan, and Cambodia, where our IT researchers have had a first hand
look at extraordinarily different cultures and technology dynamics.
We now propose to conduct this style of research in a more principled
way, in part by forming a new center that can liberally mix information
technologies with many kinds of expeditionary needs. Our thesis is that
Ember Corporation (embedded wireless nets):www.ember.com
Tephranet radio sensor nodes.(photo: M.Hawley)www.media.mit.edu/~mike/hawaii/slides
Tephranet node (faux rock) in field test atMauna Kea volcano craters.(photo: M.Hawley)
Internetworked schools in rural Cambodia.(photo: M.Hawley)
8 ITR: Information Technology Expeditions
the expeditionary mode of inquiry we stumbled into is timely, will
continue to exercise IT innovation in surprising ways, and will be a
stimulus for fresh ideas and partnerships. This thesis was borne out in
April, 2002 when we convened a working group at MIT to discuss steps
for building a more vigorous program of expeditions (http://go.mit.edu/
agenda). Institutions present included Discovery Channel, Discover
Magazine, Woods Hole, American Museum of Natural History, Boston
Museum of Science, National Geographic, NOVA, CBS News, Earthship
Productions, and several facets of MIT (Architecture, Anthropology,
Archaeology, Ocean Engineering, the Edgerton Center, the Media Lab,
etc). The consensus was unanimous. Several participants echoed a point
made by Steve Petranek (the editor and publisher of Discover Magazine),
namely that most field projects are short on the sorts of IT skills that MIT
seems to have in abundance. This suggests a natural symbiosis between
MIT and institutions that do frequent fieldwork. But even basic incentives
to put IT researchers on regular expeditions were seen as invaluable
steps.
All agreed that, much as the Media Lab has explored human
communication and expression with a multitude of corporate partners,
an array of diverse and synergistic expeditions will propel fresh and vital
innovations in information technologies, taking them into new realms.
With that background, we propose four new expeditionary tracks.
ITR: Information Technology Expeditions 9
Four New Expeditionary Thrusts and their IT Challenges
The IT research core of this program is built around a series of disparate
but synergistic expeditions, initially four per year, that each push a
different technical area to combine IT and field science. Each expedition
is conducted with a partner that already has a strong agenda and
capacities to address some of these problems.
As the program develops, more expeditionary projects will be added. It
is anticipated that each expeditionary track will pursue additional
sponsorships when needed (in some cases including further NSF
proposals when distinctive research problems are appropriately suited to
NSF solicitations). It is also expected that many technologies piloted on
expeditions will be scaled up and applied as kits on future efforts. For
instance, the field photography work applies across all expeditions; the
marine sensor work is relevant to much of the “wet” work.
If successful, MIT’s GO may emerge as the de facto “expedition
department,” a nexus to bring together many other expeditions and
creative technologies. For example, the National Geographic Society runs
over a hundred expeditions every year, and GO, once it is established,
will offer access to an atlas of field opportunities and a wealth of creative
technologies and people. They are one of many forceful consumers of
these new IT advances. Discussions have been held with NOVA,
Discovery Channel, several major museums and aquariums, etc.
The first four pilot partners and IT areas are:
1. National Geographic: Advanced Expeditionary Media
2. MIT Earth Sciences Initiative: Eco-Logic Sensor Networks.
3. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: Deep Sea Imaging.
4. Explorers Club: Whale Communication Sensor Network
We discuss each expeditionary track in turn, flagging the broad goals, IT-
specific challenges, and expeditionary steps to be taken.
10 ITR: Information Technology Expeditions
1. Advanced Expeditionary Media: Crittercam and Beyond.
co-PI: Greg Marshall, National Geographic Society
Broad Goals: Advance integration of photographic and sensing tools for
animal-borne video and data capture and general expeditionary use;
increase the utility of integrated audio/image/data (A/I/D) streams; gain
fundamental insights into animal behavior (including non-marine
animals) and enrich the palette of expeditionary logging tools.
IT Specific Challenges: solid-state ultraminiature video systems;
integrated ensembles of sensors and imaging systems; software
architecture for merging, manipulating, archiving and sharing combined
audio, image and sensor metadata (A/I/D);
Expedition Steps: Development of new systems in year one, 2-3 field
deployments with new systems on National Geographic expeditions in
year two, three and four. Development of a documentary series to
elevate the expeditionary field work and share with broadcast audience.
Assembling an accurate photographic record is vital for fieldwork. Recent
digital cameras (many of which are more powerful by some measures
than laptop computers were a few years ago) are not only beginning to
surpass film cameras in image quality, market quantity and immediacy,
but are hubs of sophisticated digital systems and crucial on expeditions.
They can do much more than take pictures. Webcams put eyes on the
internet. Image data formats are beginning to accommodate sensor
metadata. For example, cameras with GPS systems add a sense of place
to pictures: MIT teams recently shot over 50,000 GPS-tagged images
across Bhutan and are producing a new visual atlas of that country. Many
kinds of data are recordable in both tightly and loosely coupled digital
camera systems. Despite this, most field science teams make only
marginal consumer-grade use of these devices. Integrated
A/I/D (audio/image/data) streams remain awkward to archive and
annotate in the field. And afterwards, visual archives are rarely managed
well. As a consequence, most field projects leave spotty visual records.
Cutting edge imagery is the hallmark of the National Geographic Society.
Outstanding photographs embody the Geographic mission “to increase
and diffuse geographic knowledge”. In turn, National Geographic
expeditions have consistently advanced photographic technologies for
more than a century. One of the most exciting innovations in the history
of National Geographic is an imaging system called Crittercam.
Developed by marine biologist Greg Marshall, Crittercam combines
video, audio and environmental sensors in a small package that can be
GPS work with young monks in Bhutan.www.media.mit.edu/~mike/iCampus/lfp
CritterCam in action.(photo: National Geographic)www.nationalgeographic.com/crittercam
ITR: Information Technology Expeditions 11
deployed on large marine animals like whales, seals, sharks and more, to
deliver an animal’s point-of-view. Over the last decade, National
Geographic’s Remote Imaging program has collaborated with over 20
scientific groups worldwide on about three dozen species in over 300
deployments. Crittercam allows us to see marine animal behavior over
time where human access is limited. The results are unprecedented. With
data from Crittercam’s on-board computer (dive depth, water
temperature), these deployments reveal startling insights into foraging,
reproduction, social behavior and habitat use. The data show how
animals behave in situ over time (Marshall, 1998). This information is vital
to understand dynamics of marine life, and in developing conservation
and management strategies (Parrish et al, 2000).
To minimize the impact on animals while maximizing the return per
deployment, Crittercam needs to be made smaller yet more powerful.
Several steps are needed. Existing tape systems must be replaced with
simpler, smaller, and lower-power solid state memory (think of an
ultramini video camera with no moving parts at all) to eliminate fragile
moving parts and increase robustness. Crittercam’s sensor array must be
expanded to include compass, velocity, heartbeat, salinity and possibly
GPS. We have pioneered a terrestrial and avian prototype which uses
video and data transmission. This, too, needs improvements (more
efficient power, including solar; optimized radio networks).
When separated from the “critter,” Crittercam is essentially a digital
camera platform with an ensemble of sensors. Development of these
systems is driven by the demands of animal-borne applications, but we
will explore more general applications of the systems and data formats.
The same platform, and same formats of sensor data, are fused into a
common soft format, whether from high-end still photos and video
captured by expedition teams, ultraminiature animal-borne probes, or
low-end time-lapse environmental surveillance probes. The combination
of high-quality imagery demanded by National Geographic productions,
and the intense system requirements of instrumenting animals on the
go make this a strong thrust for improving the architecture and utility of
A/I/D systems as a common denominator ingredient in field systems, like
email or web page formats in the larger infrastructure.
In conjunction with the fieldwork, we will develop a series of films with
National Geographic to document the adventure of moving these
technologies into disparate cultures and environments, and share the
results with a broadcast audience.
CritterCam, in 2001(photo: Henry Kaiser)
Monk Seals, from live CritterCam video(National Geographic photo)
Deployment on sperm whale.(photo: National Geographic)
12 ITR: Information Technology Expeditions
2. Environmental Sensor Arrays for Ecosystems Research
co-PI: Prof. Kip Hodges, MIT Earth, Atmospheric & Planetary Sciences
Broad Goals: Develop and deploy integrated sensor arrays for real-time
monitoring of changes in physical, chemical, and biological processes.
IT Challenges: Fabricate inexpensive, easily maintained environmental
sensors that work on land and underwater; georeferencing of submarine
sensor data; wireless sensors nets for real-time data transfer to end-users;
efficient software architecture for data archiving and distribution.
Expeditionary Steps: Field deployment of terrestrial and submarine
sensors on Roatan, Honduras; coordination with National Geographic
production facilities to document and publicize deployment.
Effective stewardship of Earth's environmental treasures requires a clear
understanding of the effects of human activities on ecosystem evolution.
Unfortunately, few fragile ecosystems are well-enough characterized to
permit informed assessments of human impacts. As part of MIT's Earth
System Initiative, scientists are developing sensor systems that provide
the necessary environmental data. This expeditionary track enables the
fabrication and deployment of sensor nets specifically made to monitor
the health of a coral reef ecosystem in the face of coastal development.
Roatan is a small island off the Caribbean coast of Honduras that
happens to be surrounded by a spectacular series of near-shore fringing
reefs that represent part of the great Mesoamerican Reef Complex.
The reef annually attracts thousands of recreational divers and snorkelers
but Roatan had escaped much of the rampant development suffered by
other Caribbean islands. In the last few years, though, there has been an
unprecedented development boom on the island that may have serious
consequences for the future health of the reef. (Many of the factors are
outlined in a web site produced by Dr. Gaboury Benoit and students
from the Yale School of Forestry as part of reconnaissance studies
associated with a project-based course, Tropical Coastal Watersheds:
Science and Policy.) New construction focuses more on family homes than
resorts. This distributes first-order environmental impacts related to
excavation and second-order impacts related to occupation (sewage,
for example). Such dilution might mitigate environmental damage, but
weak zoning and construction regulations produces a chaotic situation
in which environmentally unsound building practices are the norm.
For example, many newly constructed dwellings for lower-income
families (drawn to the island by work in service to the tourist trade)
release raw sewage into the ocean. Recognizing this, large projects have
MIT ESI homepage:web.mit.edu/esi/index.html
Hodges MIT ESI page:web.mit.edu/esi/html/peoplesub/hodges.html
Prof. Kip Hodges uses handheld geosensing tool.
Yale School of Forestry Roatan page:www.yale.edu/roatan/index.htm
ITR: Information Technology Expeditions 13
been initiated to improve the situation, like construction of a centralized
sewage treatment facility for Coxen Hole, the largest town on the island,
as part of a $23.5m Inter-American Bank program. But the decentralized
nature of the environmental impacts makes it difficult to design an
effective mitigation strategy without a clearer understanding of the
geospatial nature of ecosystem responses to human activities.
From an environmental science perspective, Roatan provides a special
opportunity for environmental monitoring because large-scale
development began in the 1990's on the western end of the island,
near the towns of West End, Sandy Bay, and Coxen Hole and has slowly
progressed eastward. As a consequence, monitoring of ecosystem
dynamics in eastern Roatan, where the population is very small and
most human activities are related to a small-scale and locally sustainable
fishing industry, provides a “baseline” for comparison with ecosystem
dynamics near the extensively developed western end of Roatan.
Understanding the local impact of human activity on coral reef
ecosystems is particularly challenging from an environmental sensing
perspective because land processes (erosion, sediment transport,
groundwater flow, and surface water runoff ) have profound effects on
submarine biological, chemical, and physical processes. Thus, effective
characterization of the reef ecosystem requires coupled characterization
of the adjacent coastal watershed. Sensor networks must be established
that provide real-time, coordinated streams of ocean data (current, water
chemistry, acoustics, optical properties, temperature, etc), earth surface
data (precipitation, soil temperature, soil moisture), stream data (water
chemistry, flow rate, sediment load), and atmospheric data over water
and land (temperature, wind speed, atmospheric chemistry, humidity).
Many sensors can be built easily or purchased off the shelf; the major
challenge is development of rugged systems for long-term deployment.
A greater problem is how the data obtained will be spatially referenced.
Conventional GPS technology can establish geospatial references for on-
land sensors, but we envision a 3-D submarine deployment of ocean
sensors. We are exploring options. Our preliminary strategy is sonar to
triangulate sensor locations relative to “fixed” buoys with GPS attached.
An important aspect of this project is photodocumentation of the reef
complex, and the development of a program to monitor physical
changes in the reef structure related to human activity. We will adopt
technologies developed in the Advanced Expeditionary Media
component of this proposal.
MIT geology team at work in the field technology tent.
14 ITR: Information Technology Expeditions
3. Visualization in the Deep Sea
co-PI: Dave Gallo, Director of Special Projects, WHOI
Daniel Fornari, Chief Scientist- Deep Submergence, and
Senior Scientist, Geology and Geophysics Dept., WHOI
Broad Goals: visualization of deep-sea floor and biological communities,
especially those around dynamic environments like seafloor eruption
sites and hydrothermal vents. Live 3D imaging from remotely operated
vehicle (ROV) at sea, in the lab for post-cruise analysis, and for education
outreach to bring the deep ocean to K-12 students and the lay public.
Specific Challenges: High quality still and video imaging systems
applicable to deep sea environments (up to ~6500m), operable from
fiber-optic tethered ROV systems such as Jason2. Hardware and software
to permit realtime 3D views of seafloor terrains by ROV pilots.
Expedition Steps: 2-3 research expeditions per year. Field tests on
science cruises as part of the ongoing effort to improve the imaging
capabilities of the system for the US academic community.
Deep ocean science is poised to enter a new millennium characterized
by multidisciplinary cooperation. Scientists of many stripes seek to
understand the complex linkages between physical, chemical, biological,
and geological processes in the world oceans. This has been spurred by
unprecedented advances in capacities of deep submergence vehicles
over the past two decades. Marine scientists forecast that the next
decade will see even greater linkage across oceanographic disciplines,
a need to understand the temporal dimension of the processes being
studied, and continued use of deep ocean submersibles and use of
newly developed, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and autonomous
underwater vehicles (AUVs) for conducting observatory based research
in the deep ocean and at the seafloor. These approaches will enable
marine scientists to achieve a greater understanding of the factors that
influence global climate change and geochemical mass balance, and to
grapple with understanding interrelated processes of crustal generation,
evolution and transport of geochemical fluids in the crust and into the
oceans, and origins and proliferation of life on Earth and beyond.
Information technologies provide a vital role in all of the bridgework for
this. But this expeditionary track concentrates on augmented sensory
perception for ROV control. By way of contrast, the submersible Alvin has
taken more scientific “eyes” to the deep seafloor than any other human-
occupied vehicle (HOV) in the world. Since the 1970s, the
groundbreaking accomplishments of scientists working in Alvin have
JASON2 deployment.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution:www.whoi.edu/home
Fornari home page:www.whoi.edu/WHOI/SciTechDir/daniel_j_fornari.html
ITR: Information Technology Expeditions 15
been often cited, and Alvin's capabilities and reliability continue to be
the standard by which HOVs are measured.
The advent of increasingly capable ROVs and AUVs will provide greater
demand for novel approaches to imaging the deep sea floor and the use
of optical and computer-aided systems to create virtual environments
that will help ROV operators and scientists view their experimental sites
and the processes occurring there.
In Alvin, scientists are palpably aware of every movement and sensation
during a dive. The perspective of looking directly out of Alvin’s viewports
are the seafloor is unsurpassed and essential. ROV pilots need that same
sense of 'being there.’ Current ROVs strive to achieve this, but the reality
is that no ROV provides a sense of telepresence that is even close. For
example, the human sight/balance system provides a keen sense of
position, but ROV’s currently rely on changing numbers on the screen
that show compass indications. Virtual reality in ROV systems may be
decades away, but the work envisioned in this track of the proposal
seeks to make great advances in this area. Time at sea is expensive, and a
fully engaged researcher making observations and sampling on the
seafloor is more effective and accomplishes much more. For instance,
complex sampling procedures conducted by an Alvin pilot directed by
an observer typically take much less time than the equivalent operation
from an ROV. So the main thrust of our proposed work is to build better
telepresence links for ROV systems.
The technical work plan here requires some redesign of ROV sensor
networks, and a much more effective coupling of them to a 3-D visual
database. Essentially, incoming ROV data needs to feed into a 3-D
environmental database. The sensor nets and display systems used here
are expected to overlap somewhat with the systems proposed for
Roatan reef studies above; both areas, for example, require an accurate
geospatial sense, and the mapping of a visual database around it. The
ROV work will be exercised on several of the expeditions conducted by
the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as soon as systems are field-
ready. As the systems mature, they can be channeled through the “Dive
and Discover” web site (www.divediscover.whoi.edu) and other Woods
Hole outreach channels in order to reach much wider audiences of
classrooms, museumgoers, and academic scientists.
16 ITR: Information Technology Expeditions
4. Humpback Whale Communication on the Kohala Coast
co-PI: Dr. Ken Kamler, VP Research & Education, Explorers Club
Broad Goals: improved understanding of humpback whale vocalizations
along the Kohala Coast of Hawai’i; audio archives that include correlated
sensor data (GPS, environmental conditions); extension to other species.
IT Challenges: implement hydrophone-based sensor buoy network for
acoustically tracking whales; build archive correlating recorded audio in
concert with affiliated environmental sensor data.
Expeditionary Steps: scouting in year one, two deployments in year two,
for ongoing observation of pods off the northwest coast of the island of
Hawai’i (near the Old Ruins, at 20° 4.925' N; 155° 51.795’).
Understanding animal communication poses intriguing challenges to IT
research. Bioacoustic signals and songs range from low-frequency,
subaudible messages (as in elephants and some whales) to ultrasonic
chirps (as in bats and dolphins). They are used for mating, marking
territory, alarms, and echolocation. The signal lexicon can be
extraordinarily complex: the Superb Lyrebird can mimic the sounds of over
50 different bird species, as well as the sounds of car alarms, chainsaws,
camera shutters and cellular phones. Even if a computer could understand
animal messages like Dr. Dolittle, it would be perplexed by the lyrebird.
People are.
This expeditionary track starts work on bioacoustic animal communication
with studies of humpback whale vocalization using both shore- and
marine-based sensors, with partners from the Explorers Club and from the
Hawai’i Marine Mammal Consortium (HMMC). Whale vocalizations are rich
and varied. They contain signatures characteristic of individual animals as
well as family pods. But whale singers also seem to indicate seasonal
variations. The ocean is a noisy place, particularly with increased boating
traffic, and it is thought (not without controversy) that changes in the
ocean auditory soundscape are reflected by whale singers (Bauer, 1986).
For example, in the presence of vessel traffic their songs appear to be
longer, perhaps akin to people raising their voices in a noisy cocktail party.
But it is also likely that the songs correlate with other events (ocean
conditions, food sources, intruding animals, etc). Until a sufficient base of
environmental data is archived with the audio and location tracks, these
correlations can not be discovered or assessed robustly. But it seems
plausible that changes in singing patterns over time could be indicative of
many sorts of environmental alterations.
The HMMC is engaged in ongoing scientific research that surveys the
population of humpack whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the sanctuary
Explorers Club:www.explorers.org
Hawai’i Marine Mammal Consortium:www.hmmc.org
Marine Mammal Consortium proposal for whaleresearch:www.media.mit.edu/~mike/nsf/ite/HMMC_acoustics.do
Humpback whale breaching off Kohala coast.(see: www.media.mit.edu/~mike/ite/nsf/frankel.pdf)
ITR: Information Technology Expeditions 17
waters along the Kohala coast off the north shore of Hawai’i. One of the
principal researchers there and the liaison for Explorers Club efforts,
Adam Frankel, has published extensively on the ongoing survey of the
whale pods, which includes shore-based visual scans, acoustic studies,
assessment of population (via photography), etc. In addition to
traditional scientific publishing, these survey activities engage
community and school groups (including the West Hawai’i Community
College) through participation in the survey activities. For example, the
HMMC’s shore station is well known to local residents and lets them
watch and listen to whales. Boat-based visual surveys are also done (e.g.,
photographing and identifying individuals from their flukes). From a
technological standpoint, the current system includes a theodolite with
laptop interface for marking visual readings from the shore, and a small
network of four hydrophones spaced at 1km intervals. The hydrophones
transmit audio to shore-based receivers. Time-of-arrival delays can be
used to reckon animal positions. The cross-correlation procedure can
locate sounds from many different animals, even when several are
vocalizing simultaneously (Clark et al., 1986; Frankel et al., 1989).
It has for some time been desired to couple MIT engineering skills to this
survey and explore broader partnerships (for example, with the Cornell
bioacoustics research program). We will first focus on building an
improved network of sonobuoys. The technology here has aspects in
common with all of the other areas (Crittercam research, environmental
monitoring work for Roatan, and WHOI deep submergence ROV’s). A
significantly improved network of sonobuoys will be built to record,
transmit, and archive audio/image/data streams covering a long period
of time. The need for these steps is easily seen. For example, the current
sonobuoys are not GPS-equipped, but the acoustic data clearly needs to
be georeferenced. The goal in years two and three is begin building a
much enriched data archive that includes not just sound but imagery
and affiliated environmental data so that meaningful correlations
between whale singing and environmental conditions can be
discovered.
This work begins with site visits in Hawai’i in the first year to assess the
current state of the surveying apparatus. We will design and develop a
new implementation of the sonobuoy system in the first year, and will
begin deployment in the second year.
Shore station and sonobuoy locations off Kohala.
Locations of whale singers.
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Key Program Components
Explorers Lectures
In April, 2002, GO organized a special institute-wide lecture given by
Bradford and Barbara Washburn. Brad is the founding director of
Boston’s Museum of Science, the cartographer who mapped Everest, the
Grand Canyon, McKinley; and a pioneer of aerial photography. Now in his
90’s, he is one of the world’s greatest living explorers. Barbara, the first
woman to climb McKinley, has worked with Brad since the 1930’s.
The Washburns are living national treasures. Their lecture was given to
an overflow crowd and standing ovation in MIT’s largest lecture hall.
It is seen as a model for what the series of great explorer lectures can be.
We envision two to three such lectures per academic term, given by the
world’s pre-eminent explorers. We have “pre-invited” individuals like
oceanographers Sylvia Earle and Bob Ballard; filmmakers James Cameron
and David Breashears; renowned photographers Frans Lanting and Peter
Menzel. MIT has a special power to convene audiences for such events,
but the lectures, which are for MIT at large, will be opened to the broader
public, and will be standout events for students from every field.
Meetings and Symposia
One research review meeting will be conducted every academic term by the partners, to review ongoing
progress. These meetings will occur in mid-term, and will include a portion focused on MIT originated work,
as well as a portion that engages new groups from other institutions, or new sponsors active in expeditions.
In addition, at the time of each Explorers Lecture, there will be a meeting of the Expeditionary Alliance that
oversees this program in order to check progress, in “board of directors” style. In year three of the program,
MIT will convene a major symposium (1500+ attendees) on world activities in these areas.
Core Staff
Michael Hawley (Director of Special Projects) and Christopher Newell (Expedition Coordinator) will be dedicated
full time to running this program, along with (initially) 1-2 graduate research assistants, and a team of
undergraduates. One special project seminar, on expeditionary technologies, will be conducted ongoing, in
order to continually develop eclectic information technologies for use on various expeditions.
ITR: Information Technology Expeditions 19
Impact on IT Research and Beyond
New Infrastructures
IT results are expected to include progress in hardware and software for ecological monitoring, animal
behavior understanding, and expeditionary photography. These require implementations that are both
marine and terrestrial, mobile and fixed. The chief software goal is a “sensible” framework that really does
effectively fuse multimodal streams of sensor information (audio, imagery, and environmental information).
Student Careers; Service Learning
MIT is moving to free students from lockstep classwork. The iCampus and OpenCourseware initiatives are
efforts to liberate the curriculum. It should be possible, for example, for MIT students to do fieldwork while
“tuning in” to their coursework online. But MIT, like most schools, depends heavily in classrooms, with few
incentives to embark on fieldwork. A vigorous expeditionary center would clearly impact that mix. Students
need opportunities to be immersed in service-oriented learning. MIT has a startup program in precisely this
vein (web.mit.edu/mitpsc/servlearn/). But looking at the larger picture, consider the Peace Corps (Hawley,
2001). It is now about 10,000 individuals (smaller than in 1965, and a reflection of weaker ties to other
countries), in roughly equal parts medical, educational, and business people. A small demographic sliver
(5%) is “other” and includes engineers and scientists. Not long ago, the New York Times announced “Dot
Com Bust is Peace Corps’ Boom.” Indeed, there has been an upswing in technology activism. But we expect
strong steps in expeditionary sciences will open up a much broader catalog of options for combining
scientific and humanitarian interests.
University Organization
If successful, this effort will have a strong impact on MIT’s organization, akin to the UROP (undergraduate
research program). Many if not most departments do fieldwork; all of them could benefit from the
synergies of a more active and organized transdisciplinary center for expeditions, especially since few of
them maintain much infrastructure to run expeditions well.
World Exposure
World exposure has several senses. First, the IT teams doing fieldwork are, per force, exposed to radically
different ecologies and cultures. The expeditionary process brings teams and technologies into parts of the
world that are still relatively untouched; and it necessarily exposes regional leaders to the technologies,
people, and inquiries involved. For instance, in Bhutan and Cambodia, we naturally have worked very
closely with royal families, government ministries, academics, business partners and education leaders.
But the presence of an active stable of expeditions, organized as such, also elevates that atlas of activities
for exposure not only to MIT’s local community, but to the greater community of sponsors, industries, and
governments that engage with MIT on its many missions. The information technologies that convey and
pool this expeditionary work, from live field systems to on-campus web channels, are, needless to say,
essential. The meeting schedule, building to the first world symposium on expeditionary technologies in
2004, aims at this kind of world reach. Finally, the engagement of broadcast media partners (National
Geographic being the first, though conversations have begun with NOVA, Discovery, and other partners
like the Boston Museum of Science) builds a process by which results are conveyed to the greater public.
ITR: Information Technology Expeditions 20
Management Plan:GO and the Expeditionary Alliance; Harnessing the Atlas of MIT Field Work
As part of this effort, MIT is forming an Expeditionary Alliance to advise and direct work. Initially, the alliance
will be composed of expeditionary partners (National Geographic, Explorers Club, Woods Hole, MIT).
We have held preliminary discussions with many others (NOVA, Discovery, American Museum of Natural
History, NASA, etc). MIT’s potential in convening this sort of working group is nonpareil. Each of the alliance
members has significant expeditions underway, and part of the process of working with the alliance involves
pooling the many field challenges to uncover best opportunities for innovative IT applications. We are not
aware of any comparable group or consortium for doing this. Alliance members will review expeditions
underway, and like a board of directors, will work to strengthen these efforts. This is a key step.
Each expedition is championed by a strong external partner, and managed internally by a dedicated
research assistant and/or MIT faculty member. Science, especially in the field, doesn’t always work right the
first time. Not all expeditions succeed. Failures can be disastrous setbacks. The strategy of running different
expeditions with different partners balances the risks. But it also is a means of exercising variations in the
technologies, or simply trying one invention in manifold circumstances. The concurrent expeditionary tracks
are thus important for ensuring robustness.
The combined elements of the program (the Expeditionary Alliance; the Explorers Lectures; the plurality of
expeditionary tracks; the research meetings and symposia; the availability of broadcast impact) and its
transdisciplinary design will make it an exciting and very visible activity at MIT as well as a lively step for the
IT field in general. The GO program is naturally positioned to engage with the multitude of other MIT field
activities. There are certainly many, but there is no coordinative facility for them. Harnessing the larger “atlas”
of MIT fieldwork is an important goal for GO. From the standpoint of IT research, in the end it is likely that a
large number of expeditions will leverage a small number of innovations. Our approach is simply to take
every smart step to build the critical mass of activity that can ensure liberal and vigorous generation and
testing and sharing of IT innovations.
As the program grows, we expect to add more expeditions. For example, industrial sponsors are often
attracted by hands-on work and rugged field tests. These will certainly be added as we progress. The notion
of who participates on expeditions can be flexible. For instance, the catalog of expeditions can be opened to
MIT alumni/ae as a kind of field internship. This model could be self-sustaining. Organizations like
Earthwatch (www.earthwatch.org) have demonstrated a working symbiosis of field science and adventure
tourism: their tours allow travellers to join expeditions as participants. Fees from the travellers in part help to
support the field science. Steps like these could enlarge our expeditionary catalog, effectively pulling the
science, and in particular, the information science, into many new veins.
In the course of running field expeditions, one naturally partners with regional academics who have on-site
expertise. For instance, these have included University of Hawai’i (Prof. Kim Bridges) for work on Tephranet;
and will include the Bay Islands Conservation Association (BICA) and local schools in Roatan; the Hawai’i
marine mammal consortium; faculty at Sherubtse college in Trashigang, Bhutan; and others. These
affiliations are vital, and are developed with care on a per-expedition basis.