SOURCES SOUGHT
A -- Research program using virtual reality to help veterans suffering nightmares due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and/or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
- Notice Date
- 8/30/2010
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541712
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Navy, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, NMLC, 693 Neiman Street, FT Detrick, Maryland, 21702-9203, United States
- ZIP Code
- 21702-9203
- Solicitation Number
- PWRDREAMING1
- Archive Date
- 10/20/2010
- Point of Contact
- Thomas L. Hood, Phone: 3016198894
- E-Mail Address
-
thomas.hood@med.navy.mil
(thomas.hood@med.navy.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Notice type: Special Notice This is a Request for Information (RFI) ONLY. The Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) is requesting information concerning the support of a research program using virtual reality to help veterans suffering nightmares due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and/or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). This research program has multiple functional areas which require software and database support. The program is evaluating various options to provide this support, namely internal development, best-of-breed products and/or integrated products. This RFI provides an opportunity for respondents to submit their ideas, initiatives, and/or products related to this request. This RFI is subject to the provisions of FAR 52.215-3 and is issued solely for information and planning purposes. The RFI does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a commitment to issue an RFP. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this RFI or to pay for any information, or otherwise reimburse responders for any costs associated with their respective submissions in response to this RFI. Any response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal. This RFI is issued for the purpose of understanding the range of products available for support of the described translational research system. Any proprietary or source selection information MUST be marked as such, on a page-by-page basis. The Government intends to use third party, non-Government (contractor) support personnel as subject matter experts in the review of responses received, including the review of any marked or unmarked proprietary or source selection information provided. Appropriate non-disclosure agreements have been executed between the third party, non-Government (contractor) support personnel and the Government and are on file with the Government. A submission of a response to this RFI constitutes the respondents’ acknowledgement and agreement that the information provided in the response, including any marked or unmarked proprietary or source selection information, may be disclosed to the these third party, non-Government (contractor) support personnel. BACKGROUND Power Dreaming (PD) is a project which augments the current Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment (CBT) approaches for warrior trainees (WT) and other patients suffering with nightmares related to PTSD/TBI with technological advances in biofeedback and virtual reality (VR). These CBT models rely on “relaxation” and “imagery” as the primary components of the therapy but they do not actually measure the relaxation response or address the fact that many patients do not have sufficient imagery skills to produce a change in their behavioral conditioning. Power Dreaming directly improves on these therapeutic models by utilizing heart rate variability biofeedback to measure the relaxation response and VR machinima to enhance imagery capability. The goal is to reduce brain wave frequency and allostatic loading associated with nightmare activity. Unlike exposure therapy, the model is to develop imagery that is both customized by the trainee and neurologically “distracting” to stimulate the development of a clinical relaxation response. The objective of this project is for the contractor to develop software to engage the WT in a comprehensive training program to address the management of nightmares and insomnia related to PTSD/TBI. The VR component requires the development of software tutorials to assist the trainee in the creation of customized healing imagery (therapeutic dreams) to counter the impact of nightmares which cause acute sympathetic reactivity and dysfunction. The effort requires the contractor to develop, test, and implement the software. In addition, the contractor shall provide training to the government upon initial software implementation and consultation services. After software implementation into the government facility, the contractor shall receive feedback from the government and incorporate such feedback into upgrades of the software. The software shall be developed with three fundamental targets: 1) avatar construction; 2) environmental themes; and 3) scenario development. In each of these categories sub menus will further delineate the framework. For example, the sub menus could relate to the environment such as the beach, mountains, being under-water, or the forest. The patient will have access to machinima tools to first create a dynamic personalized avatar and be able to splice idiosyncratic imagery into the existing computer generated imagery (CGI). The user will be able to utilize the backdrop provided by the selected theme as a context in which their personal imagery can be integrated. The Contractor shall develop virtual world scenarios in which the user can create additional customized imagery to recreate their personal experience for expressive detail to neurologically strengthen parasympathetic imagery to counter the dysfunctional pathways created by the trauma exposure. Training shall be provided to the government to augment their competencies after the initial implementation of the software into the government facility. This training shall occur at NH Bremerton, WA. The training shall be performed on site at the MTF using the computers, hardware and connectivity that will be deployed to the WT personnel. The Contractor shall provide training to the extent that the Government has the requisite expertise to execute the virtual component of the project. The contractor shall provide consultation to identify the best way to modify existing Application Programming Interfaces (API) in the immersive training environment. The Contractor shall also provide consultative and training services to the Government for the immersive world and utilization of the Power Dreaming software. The contractor shall be responsible for any cyber space leasing costs charged by the immersive world server. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION Please provide information to assist in answering the following questions: 1.Is there any particular existing software or virtual reality products in the marketplace that can meet the requirements of the government in their current form? Also, are there any products that can be modified or built off of to meet the government’s requirements? 2.Are there any best-of-breed products in the marketplace? 3.Is there such a difference between the lower end products and best-of-breed products that the additional cost of integration is worthwhile? 4.If software that could be built off of or used as it is currently configured exists, what additional benefits can be derived from developing a system from the ground up? Responses should be sent in either Microsoft Word or portable document format (pdf). Please provide your response via email to thomas.hood@med.navy.mil no later than 5 October 2010 at 10:00 AM EST. Contracting Office Address: Naval Medical Logistics Command, 693 Niemen Street, Fort Detrick, MD 21702
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DON/BUMED/N62645/PWRDREAMING1/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: N/A, United States
- Record
- SN02261096-W 20100901/100830235825-fa9907a733bfe3727579b708927c96e4 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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