RENO, Nev., Aug. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Dynepic, Inc.^® announces it has been selected by AFWERX for an AFVentures SBIR/STTR Open Topic Phase II contract in the amount of $1.25M focused on adapting MOTAR^® to address the most pressing challenges in the Department of the Air Force (DAF).

The Air Force Research Laboratory and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) process by accelerating the small business experience through faster proposal to award timelines, changing the pool of potential applicants by expanding opportunities to small business and eliminating bureaucratic overhead by continually implementing process improvement changes in contract execution. The DAF began offering the Open Topic SBIR/STTR program in 2018 which expanded the range of innovations the DAF funded and this month Dynepic will start its journey to create and provide innovative capabilities that will strengthen the national defense of the United States of America.

"During our exploration in Phase 1, it became clear there was no cohesive standard for how to identify, track, and remix 3D assets across USAF groups, causing major hiccups and wasted time for Airmen when they could be leveling up their training readiness," said Krissa Watry, Co-Founder, and CEO of Dynepic. "With MOTAR's digital thread capabilities, users can maintain links (the digital thread) to original authoritative sources while also creating digital remixes, ensuring all training apps are leveraging the most current certified models and ultimately future-proofing United States Air Force (USAF) content within MOTAR Hub."

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. government.

About Dynepic
Dynepic^® is a woman- and service-disabled veteran-founded tech company headquartered in Reno, Nevada whose mission is to power an open ecosystem of multi-dimensional knowledge for a better tomorrow. To learn more about Dynepic, check out our website and connect with us on LinkedIn.

About Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)
Sole organization leading the planning and execution of U.S. Air Force & U.S. Space Force science & technology programs. Orchestrates a world-wide government, industry & academia coalition in the discovery, development & delivery of a wide range of revolutionary technology. Provides leading-edge warfighting capabilities keeping air, space and cyberspace forces the world's best. Employs 10,800 military, civilian and contractor personnel at 17 research sites executing an annual $4B budget. For more information, visit: www.afresearchlab.com.

About AFWERX
The innovation arm of the DAF and a directorate within the Air Force Research Laboratory brings cutting edge American ingenuity from small businesses and start-ups to address the most pressing challenges of the DAF. Employs approximately 325 military, civilian and contractor personnel at six hubs and sites executing an annual $1.4B budget. Since 2019, has executed 4,671 contracts worth more than $2B to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base and drive faster technology transition to operational capability. For more information, visit: www.afwerx.com. 

Goikhman will help steer the company as it continues to build the backbone of the military metaverse 

From Wall Street to gaming to eXtended Reality (XR) training, Arthur Goikhman has been ahead of the curve in the tech industry for several decades. Today, Dynepic® is thrilled to announce he has taken on the role of Chief Technology Officer! 

“I am living proof of the cliche that if you love your job, you’ll never work a day in your life,” Arthur shared. “I’m so confident in Dynepic’s mission and trajectory, taking on this new role was an easy choice.”

For the past few years, Arthur has helped fuel Dynepic as the SVP of XR Innovation, seeing the company through significant growth, opportunities and small business challenges. His new role represents the continued expansion of the company and is reflective of his breadth of experience and knowledge. 

“Arthur’s passion for technology is in his DNA - aside from his family, his hobbies and free time are organically rooted in future tech and what’s next,” said Krissa Watry, Co-Founder, and CEO of Dynepic. “Having him take on the CTO role has been a natural progression of his contributions to Dynepic and its future.”

The Road to Dynepic 

A first-generation immigrant who changed his major to Computer Science when he learned you could get paid to be innovative, Arthur kicked off his storied career on Wall Street creating bond and option pricing models, then producing real-time market data and first-gen web online trading systems - a “baptism by fire” as he described it. A few years later, Arthur was working with Morgan Stanley in New York’s twin towers on 9/11; by a stroke of luck, he wasn’t in the office that morning but was part of the data recovery team that brought US trading markets back online the following Monday. Seeing an obvious need for supporting capabilities in early web conferencing, Arthur was a pioneer holding key patents such as “Active Talker Detection” which is still used today. 

With a lifelong entrepreneurial spirit, Arthur also started five different tech companies including a mobile game company in 2005 and SurrealVR, one of the first platform-agnostic virtual reality companies (VR) that helped lay the groundwork for immersive collaboration in the Metaverse. The company was acquired by Dynepic last year to bring multiplayer training to its MOTAR platform. 

“I still can’t believe people get paid to do this work!” Arthur mused. “Being the immigrant son of a man who spent time in concentration camps just dreaming of American freedom, I’m grateful and excited to be part of something with the potential to improve the lives of everyone in the US and beyond.” 

On the Horizon 

Arthur’s role as CTO is effective immediately, and while his role will shift, his interests remain unchanged. 

“Dynepic is the most perfect product fit I’ve ever seen in my life, and I’m super excited about where we’re headed,” he said. “This team truly never stops!”

New SBIR Phase I funding will integrate human performance sensor data and lay the groundwork to be implemented into MOTAR later this year  

Dynepic® announced today it was awarded SBIR Phase I funding to enhance its MOTAR® platform and enable ‘humans as a weapon system’ through the collection, tracking, and API enablement of human performance sensor data for the Department of Air Force.

“MOTAR is the perfect platform to aggregate training data and present actionable insights via its learning dashboards to improve overall training readiness,” explained Krissa Watry, Co-Founder, and CEO of Dynepic. “Many VR headsets and wearables used by the military have the ability to track sensor data like heart rate, gaze pattern, and activity level, and MOTAR will collect this data for correlation to training performance. The vision is that MOTAR Ecosystem applications will also be able to analyze the data through privacy-secure APIs.” 

Already a requirement across the USAF for learning and training, MOTAR is well poised to serve as the one-stop-shop for this data and address current US military challenges, including:

• Increased Interoperability: MOTAR is device- and vendor-agnostic with the capability to pull in siloed sensor data streams from any hardware type and output a standardized data format that can be used by third-party tools, apps, and AI engines
• Enable Human as Weapon System: By collecting, tracking, storing, and analyzing all human performance sensor data in a centralized repository, a digital phenotype of the warfighter could be developed and understood – from training to operations 
• Increased Training Readiness: Instructors will have a better understanding of their student’s performance; human performance data can be used to assert new competencies and support AI in recommending courses and optimizing training

Watry said Dynepic will host key stakeholder meetings as they move forward with development in the coming weeks and has extended an open invitation to US Air Force and Space Force units who would like to join. 

“Our Warfighters are a key component to winning any future fight. This Phase I SBIR is a strong start to supporting service members with the performance data and actionable insights they need to win!” she added.