Army hosting new Brain Operant Learning Technology competition

The Army is hosting a new competition to develop tools and concepts that can locate and track different learning traits to help train warfighters in the future, the service announced today in a press release.

The service is offering industry up to $1 million for the competition, called xTechBOLT, or Brain Operant Learning Technology, to "develop and demonstrate the use of BOLT tools that are neural pathways to capture emotions and empathy, as well as proof-of-concept mechanisms that could be developed to promote optimal retention and access to memories," according to the press release.

The Army is looking for early stage innovations that have the potential to improve military training outcomes with software- and hardware-based technologies.

"The goals for this competition are to better understand the effects of emotion and empathy on learning and memory, and the functions and interactions of various brain regions in relation to emotional and empathetic process and learning," the press release states. "Understanding these effects will help build the U.S. military of the future by revolutionizing how we teach and train warfighters, how we build better medical providers and how we utilize novel brain operant learning technologies."

Up to 10 applicants will receive $10,000 before advancing to the semifinals, where five vendors will receive $25,000 and have the opportunity to win $500,000 in the final stage of the competition.

The last day to submit white papers is Sept. 15.