Since 2004, Oceanit has been developing a new optical technology that can operate in difficult, high-speed sensing regimes that are well beyond the limits of today’s conventional camera systems. The inspiration for this technology was to create an affordable way to tackle some of today’s most difficult security issues:

• Protect soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq from enemy snipers and rocket propelled grenade attack
• Detect rocket launches to enable rapid counter-fire
• Protect commercial and military aircraft from shoulder launched rocket attack
• Detect and track ballistic missiles as part of the Ballistic Missile Defense System
• Confirm successful kill of incoming ballistic or conventional missiles

Oceanit expects that the performance of HFDS will significantly exceed that of existing sniper detection systems. There are several reasons why. First, HFDS can “see” events as short as 1/10,000th second, whereas traditional systems are limited to about 1/100th second. Because they are slow, current systems experience frequent false alerts – as many as two per minute in moving vehicles. This level of performance makes the systems unusable. A second attribute is HFDS’ capability to see dim and bright objects. HFDS can operate across a million-fold range in brightness levels – this unique attribute is necessary to avoid being “blinded” by bright flashes such as explosions, missile launch, RPG launch or even nearby gunshots. Even in the presence of these events, HFDS is still able to see dim objects such as flying bullets or human heat signatures. Finally, the Focal Plane Array (FPA) is capable of detecting and locating an object or event very precisely – its performance exceeds current systems by 10x. This attribute enables wide field-of-view sensors. For example, current sniper detection systems “see” field-of-view of 45 degrees, but Oceanit’s HFDS “sees” across the entire 360 degree horizon, while still providing ½ degree location accuracy.

"Mr. Scott is the site manager for Oceanit’s Kauai location and project manager for the MOST program, which is a long range sensor program for the Missile Defense Agency. He holds a Master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan. Mr. Scott served for 20 years at the Central Intelligence Agency, where he was an expert in surveillance and security systems, retiring in 2001. At the CIA, Mr. Scott was also the technical director for CIA’s In-Q-Tel initiative, an outreach program aimed at emerging technology companies. In this position, he was responsible for identifying technologies of interest to the Intelligence Community that were suitable for commercialization. In 2002 and 2003, he supported the US Pacific Command as a technical consultant for Homeland Security issues. His technical expertise includes system engineering, communication system design, optical communication systems, and digital systems design. He has served as the MOST program manager from the start of the program, developing and refining many of the design concepts for object tracking, detection and noise reduction."