Operation RealEyes

Since 2007, RealityVision® has been the subject of an ongoing research program dubbed “Operation RealEyes” at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate. The program’s objective is to test the performance of RealityVision in “scenarios that duplicate real-world first responder and law enforcement missions such as all-points bulletins, Amber Alerts, identification of suspicious packages, and emergency situations requiring situational awareness.” A separate DHS federal law enforcement agency has participated actively in the research program since its inception, volunteering to conduct scenario-based field testing.

The research program has proceeded in a phased crawl/walk/run approach, and RealityVision continues to excel at every phase:

• The initial research phases established the system’s basic capabilities.
• DHS engaged the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge National Laboratory to conduct a full evaluation of the RealityVision system based on real requirements from the laboratory’s first responder stakeholders.
• Once the laboratory phase had been completed, DHS conducted a privacy impact assessment “in various operational settings, in a variety of locations significant to the Federal Law Enforcement Agency’s operations, and under realistic conditions.”

With the successful completion of the privacy impact assessment, DHS has conducted extensive field exercises of increased scope and complexity, including real-world deployments at the 2008 Democratic and Republican Conventions.