I certainly felt like a member of the "cool kids" club thanks to my great friend Carol Carlan, Dr. Ken Ford and Julie Sheppard at IHMC (Institute for Human and Machine Cognition) right here in Pensacola. Talk about talent! They invited a small group of Pensacola folks: leaders from the banking, private, and public sector to the "Better Together" event. It was fulfilling to see a number of Pensacola "greats" in attendance like former Mayor Ashton Hayward, Jim Reeves, Dr. Ed Meadows, and Dick Baker, to name a few.
What impressed me the most is the feeling of total immersion — it was nearly a perfect open house educational experience. This is no doubt a credit to the organizational excellence reflected in incredible IHMC staff like Gillian Ward, always gracious and welcoming, and leader-of-the-pack Julie Sheppard.
I learned a great deal from the final lecture hosted by Dr. Ken Ford himself and Dr. Morley Stone — a new permanent Pensacola resident (as he and his wife are recent empty-nesters). Dr. Stone talked with me for a fascinating 15 minutes during the 8:30-9:00 morning gathering over coffee, doughnuts, and refreshments. Carol was gracious to introduce us. She commented on the video brochure I had in my hand and quickly took it from me to socialize it around the room. The Velocity Restorations video brochure was a "hit" with Dr. Ford (as a vintage Ford Bronco enthusiast). He later congratulated me on an excellent job building such an impressive video brochure for Velocity.
They split the attendees into two touring groups and I enjoyed catching up with the folks in my cohort: Kenzie Burleigh, of Rowland Publishing, was there on behalf of Brian Rowland (who was my print collaborator on the incredible Fredric G. Levin Legacy book project I led a few years back). We toured through both facilities — starting in the old Pensacola jail, now converted into IHMC offices and research facilities and then walked across to the Levin Center for IHMC Research with various stops along the way.
IHMC lead scientists were ready with demonstrations at each step. Dr. Marcas Bamman led off the tour, which felt more akin to a VIP showcase (the likes of which I have not seen since witnessing a personal VIP tour by Phillip Morris through some fabulous property). Each lead scientist really took their time and seemed to have been coached to share a personal story: why IHMC, why Pensacola, and why what they are doing is valuable for both the research and commercial sectors.
I learned a great deal about language, terminology, and practical uses for these highly advanced technologies in each area. Exoskeletal was presented by recent recruit and captivating presenter Dr. Gwen Bryan, who demonstrated a session with a man in a full suit which was designed to provide assistance carrying extremely heavy weight such as an oxygen tank on his back. The potential applications are fascinating. The Department of Energy is currently funding research to build suits that help hazmat workers stay engaged in cleanup work for longer (more than the current 20 minutes) while using oxygen, carrying hundreds of pounds of PPE, and heavy tools to clean up hazardous nuclear waste sites and biological contaminants.
Dr. Robert Griffin and Dr. Matthew Johnson were both teed up with fascinating presentations. This did not feel like the standard dog and pony show. We certainly got the "deluxe version." The only things that I noticed could have possibly enhanced the tour was 1) for the presenters to have name tags on, and 2) for every tour participant to wear a pair of headphones to hear better. A microphone held by the tour guide and presenters would be perfect (example: think private tour through your favorite museum). It was a bit hard to hear their remarks over the roar of the drones flying, the robots climbing stairs, and huge chassis moving all at once.
What stood out to me about Dr. Johnson's presentation about drones was that this technology is being greatly underutilized across the country. It has not been properly invested in at the commercial level; for example, the Pensacola Police Department purchased a number of drones about six years ago, but they have not continued collaborating with IHMC for newer improved versions (though they are available). Applications: the drones can be used to safely deliver a phone directly to a hostage taker (something that is proven to aid in negotiations). IHMC seems to be the far-and-away leader in indoor drone operation, and they are using Chinese-produce RF transmitter technology by DJI (controlling flight and video transmission between operator and drone). There is one American company, according to Dr. Johnson, that is developing an alternative to this Chinese tech — and IHMC will readily switch once they prove to be equivalent.
The drone team let us wear headsets while they flew the drone with camera onboard at warp speed through the entire building starting in the research demonstration lab all the way through the lobby, up the stairwell, and back out through the second floor office window and back down to the ground! I'm sure the maneuver was an "old hat" operation, but it certainly impressed! The intriguing demonstration of drones by Dr. Johnson led me to think that there's a real opening for a company with strong connections and a "rolodex" for police and fire departments throughout the United States — to serve as a commercial partner to make these IHMC-built drones widely known to departments across the country. The precincts simply don't know these more-advanced drones are available! They can accomplish many tasks, the least of which could be surveillance.
It was the next station with Dr. Robert Griffin and the humanoid robots where I learned the most. He spoke about the term "SBIR" which stands for Small Business Innovation Research (www.sbir.gov). This Federal program funds a diverse portfolio of startups and small businesses across technology areas and markets. There are, unsurprisingly, grants available specifically to fund small business commercial partners, a federal seed fund of sorts. I commented to the group that it would be remarkable to see Pensacola develop into an "SBIR Hub." Dr. Johnson enthusiastically responded that his dream would be to see Pensacola grow into a Center of Excellence for advanced humanoid robotics. Why wouldn't federally-backed small businesses want to setup operations in a beach town near IHMC's new 40,000 square foot facility and offer a destination lifestyle for the brightest minds on the planet??
Dr. Johnson commented that a Pensacola-based company called Boardwalk Robotics is one of the only examples of a local SBIR-funded company. He explained that the only other "Centers of Excellence" for humanoid robotics and AI development in the South are in Austin, Texas and at Georgia Tech. I could see enthusiasm in his eyes when talking about establishing our community firmly as a southern hub for this type of advancement.
Pensacola: Where Technology Goes to Collaborate
Collaboration was certainly the theme of the tour. "Cross pollination" as Dr. Ford referred to it. In his intriguing presentation with Dr. Morley, we had the opportunity to see "behind the curtain" about the distinctiveness of IHMC. Dr. Ford spoke in depth about the differences between "machine-centered" advancements and "human-centered" advancements. His insistence on using the term "Amplified Intelligence" to replace "Artificial Intelligence" seems to be a line pulled directly out of his wildly-popular podcast "STEM-Talk" with 4 million listeners. Dr. Ford talked about what seems to be a distinctive methodology being developed by IHMC: a different school of thought in the field of human and machine teaming. He explained that a fundamental distinction with IHMC methodology is a commitment to the "partnership" of humans with the technology. "Human-centered" scientific advancements is a reversal / opposite of typical techniques in the field where the machine is the focus and human operation is "added" as a lesser priority. At IHMC, the human is not seen as an operator, but as a partner. According to Dr. Ford, a "fitted relationship with the human" is the "tightest" form of collaboration, followed by a "teaming relationship" with humans, where AI teams are allowed to create their own paths toward success and survival. They presented simulated and IRL battles between humans and drone teams playing capture the flag. Wow. The words "controller" or "operator" seem to be dirty words at IHMC. "Partner," "Collaborator" are fundamental terms and core values that create stronger bonds and more effective traction with AI and machine/hardware inventions.
This fundamental distinction seems to be the secret sauce that makes IHMC such a success globally. Dr. Ford also mentioned the incredibly high cost spent by DOD to train each human ready for "in the field" operation of drones and other equipment: $40-$50 million per person. I couldn't help but wonder about the TRAINING component — if someone could establish an SBIR commercial partner training company as a drone training contractor for this burgeoning market. There is bound to be a lot of money to be made in the coming robotics revolution. If DOD is spending $40 to $50 million training each individual — now that's a big pie to eventually take a piece of back to the private sector!
They closed the presentation with an inspiring conversation about the PhD program in partnership with UWF. Dr. Brent Venable, was sitting right next to me. She spoke about the research topics that the current 18 students from seven countries are working on. They imagine maxing out at 25 students per cohort because they are attracting some of the top talent in the world. Dr. Ford mentioned these graduates are often placed with $450,000 salaries and $500,000 stock options for their first job after 3-4 hears with IHMC. I couldn't help but think how much more Pensacola could do to somehow retain these PhD graduates to stay and live here in a "Center of Excellence."
Anyhow, the morning was quite immersive and felt special. I could not believe I didn't have to board a long flight to a major city to experience innovations of this importance. This recap was intended to mirror that experience by the depth of detail. I was really impressed. I think our friend Fred Levin would have been very pleased and would have enjoyed himself hanging out with all the big "characters" in the room.
Finally, Dr. Morley Stone and I spoke in detail about my documentary pursuits and I shared with him our history of Telly and Addy awards and suggested that it would be amazing to tell the "human" story behind IHMC some day! He asked if we had any history doing documentaries for technology companies and I told him about our current work with Benuvua, the first FDA-approved company developing pharmacological cannabinoids. Possibilities abound, no doubt, and I was certainly grateful to be in the room.
Kudos to Dr. Ford, Carol Carlan, Dr. Morley Stone and Julie Sheppard for a brilliant experience! I'm more excited now than ever to live in Pensacola and hopefully be a part of this very exciting story.
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