SRI International
Encyclopedia
Menlo Park, California
Menlo Park, California is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south; Atherton, North Fair Oaks, and Redwood City...
, the trustees of Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
established it in 1946 as a center of innovation to support economic development in the region. It was later incorporated
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
as an independent nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
under U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
laws.
SRI's headquarters are near the Stanford University campus. Curtis Carlson
Curtis Carlson
Curtis Raymond Carlson is currently the president and CEO of SRI International and a prominent technologist.Initially a physics graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute and PhD student at in geophysical fluid dynamics from Rutgers University, he joined Sarnoff Corporation after graduation and...
, Ph.D., is SRI's president and CEO. Year 2010 revenue for SRI was approximately $495 million. As of 2011, SRI employs about 2,100 staff members. Sarnoff Corporation
Sarnoff Corporation
Sarnoff Corporation, with headquarters in West Windsor Township, New Jersey, was a research and development company specializing in vision, video and semiconductor technology....
, a wholly owned subsidiary of SRI since 1988, was fully integrated into SRI in January 2011. SRI International Sarnoff is being used as a brand name for a period of time for business activities based in Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
.
In 1970, SRI formally separated from Stanford University and, in 1977, became known as SRI International. The separation was a belated response to Vietnam war protesters at Stanford University who believed that SRI's DARPA-funded work was essentially making the university part of the military-industrial complex
Military-industrial complex
Military–industrial complex , or Military–industrial-congressional complex is a concept commonly used to refer to policy and monetary relationships between legislators, national armed forces, and the industrial sector that supports them...
. SRI's mission is discovery and the application of science and technology for knowledge, commerce, prosperity, and peace. It performs client-sponsored research and development
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
for government agencies, commercial businesses, and private foundations. It also licenses its technologies, forms strategic partnerships, and creates spin-off
Research spin-off
A research spin-off is a company that falls into at least one of the four following categories:#Companies that have an equity investment from a national library or university#Companies that license technology from a public research institute or university...
companies.
SRI's focus areas include telecommunication
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
and telecommunications networks, computing
Computing
Computing is usually defined as the activity of using and improving computer hardware and software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology...
, economic development
Economic development
Economic development generally refers to the sustained, concerted actions of policymakers and communities that promote the standard of living and economic health of a specific area...
and science and technology policy
Policy
A policy is typically described as a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. The term is not normally used to denote what is actually done, this is normally referred to as either procedure or protocol...
, education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
and the environment
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
, engineering systems, pharmaceuticals and health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
sciences, homeland security
Homeland security
Homeland security is an umbrella term for security efforts to protect states against terrorist activity. Specifically, is a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the U.S., reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do...
and national defense
Defense (military)
Defense has several uses in the sphere of military application.Personal defense implies measures taken by individual soldiers in protecting themselves whether by use of protective materials such as armor, or field construction of trenches or a bunker, or by using weapons that prevent the enemy...
, materials and structures, video processing
Video processing
In electrical engineering and computer science, video processing is a particular case of signal processing, which often employs video filters and where the input and output signals are video files or video streams. Video processing techniques are used in television sets, VCRs, DVDs, video codecs,...
, computer vision
Computer vision
Computer vision is a field that includes methods for acquiring, processing, analysing, and understanding images and, in general, high-dimensional data from the real world in order to produce numerical or symbolic information, e.g., in the forms of decisions...
, and robotics
Robotics
Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots...
. SRI has been awarded more than 1,000 patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
s and patent applications worldwide.
Early history
SRI's first research project began in 1946: the investigation of improvement of the guayuleGuayule
Parthenium argentatum, commonly known as the Guayule , is a flowering shrub in the aster family, Asteraceae, that is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It can be found in the US states of New Mexico and Texas and the Mexican states of Zacatecas, Coahuila, Chihuahua, San...
plant as a source of rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
. In 1948, SRI began research and consultation with the petroleum company Chevron
Chevron Corporation
Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining,...
to develop an artificial substitute for tallow
Tallow
Tallow is a rendered form of beef or mutton fat, processed from suet. It is solid at room temperature. Unlike suet, tallow can be stored for extended periods without the need for refrigeration to prevent decomposition, provided it is kept in an airtight container to prevent oxidation.In industry,...
and coconut oil
Coconut oil
Coconut oil is an edible oil extracted from the kernel or meat of matured coconuts harvested from the coconut palm . Throughout the tropical world, it has provided the primary source of fat in the diets of millions of people for generations. It has various applications in food, medicine, and industry...
used in making soap
Soap
In chemistry, soap is a salt of a fatty acid.IUPAC. "" Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. . Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford . XML on-line corrected version: created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN...
s. SRI's investigation confirmed the potential of dodecyl benzene as a suitable replacement, and later Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
used the substance as the basis of their successful laundry detergent
Detergent
A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with "cleaning properties in dilute solutions." In common usage, "detergent" refers to alkylbenzenesulfonates, a family of compounds that are similar to soap but are less affected by hard water...
, Tide
Tide (detergent)
Tide is the brand-name of a popular laundry detergent manufactured by Procter & Gamble and first introduced to the United States consumer in 1946. It is also marketed in Canada, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, India and several other countries...
.
On November 10–11, 1949, the First National Air Pollution Symposium was sponsored by SRI in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, in cooperation with the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
, the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
, and the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
. Presentations were featured by authorities in air pollution
Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
, to exchange ideas and techniques in pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
and, in general, to stimulate interest in the field. About 400 scientists, business executives, and civic leaders from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
were present. SRI also co-sponsored the second and third Symposia in Pasadena on May 5–6, 1952 and April 18–20, 1955.
In the early 1950s, Walt
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
and Roy Disney
Roy O. Disney
Roy Oliver Disney was, with his younger brother, Walt Disney, the co-founder of what is now The Walt Disney Company.-Early life:...
sought SRI's advice regarding a small planned amusement park called Disneyland which they intended to build in Burbank, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. SRI provided them information on such topics as location, attendance patterns, and economic feasibility. SRI also selected a much larger site, in Anaheim, and prepared reports covering many aspects of operation. They also provided on-site administrative support and continued an advisory role for some time as the park expanded. In 1952, the Technicolor Corporation contracted with SRI to develop a near-instantaneous electro-optical alternative to the manual process of timing during film copying. In 1959, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
presented the Scientific and Engineering Award jointly to SRI and Technicolor for their work on the design and development of the Technicolor electronic printing timer which greatly benefited the motion picture industry. In 1954, Southern Pacific
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
asked SRI to investigate ways of reducing damage during rail freight shipments by mitigating shock to railroad box cars. This investigation led to the development of the Hydra-Cushion technology, which remains standard today.
In the 1950s, SRI worked under the direction of the Bank of America
Bank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...
to develop ERMA (Electronic Recording Machine, Accounting
Electronic Recording Machine, Accounting
ERMA , was a pioneering computer development project run at SRI under contract to Bank of America in order to automate banking bookkeeping...
), and magnetic ink character recognition
Magnetic ink character recognition
Magnetic Ink Character Recognition, or MICR, is a character recognition technology used primarily by the banking industry to facilitate the processing of cheques and makes up the routing number and account number at the bottom of a check. The technology allows computers to read information off...
(MICR) which as of 2011 is still the industry standard in automated check processing. The ERMA project was led by computer scientist Jerre Noe
Jerre Noe
Jerre Noe was an American computer scientist. In the 1950s, he led the technical team for the ERMA project, the Bank of America's first venture into computerized banking...
, who was at the time SRI's assistant director of engineering. In the late 1950s, the SRI radar under Walter Jaye provided many important satellite observation reports to USAF Project Space Track.
Rapid expansion
Douglas EngelbartDouglas Engelbart
Douglas Carl Engelbart is an American inventor, and an early computer and internet pioneer. He is best known for his work on the challenges of human-computer interaction, resulting in the invention of the computer mouse, and the development of hypertext, networked computers, and precursors to GUIs...
was the primary force behind the design and development of the oN-Line System
NLS (computer system)
NLS, or the "oN-Line System", was a revolutionary computer collaboration system designed by Douglas Engelbart and implemented by researchers at the Augmentation Research Center at the Stanford Research Institute during the 1960s...
, or NLS. He founded SRI's Augmentation Research Center
Augmentation Research Center
Stanford Research Institute's Augmentation Research Center was founded in the 1960s by electrical engineer Douglas Engelbart to develop and experiment with new tools and techniques for collaboration and information processing. The main product to come out of ARC was the revolutionary oN-Line...
(ARC), and his team there developed the original versions of many modern computer-human interface elements. These included: bit-mapped displays
Raster graphics
In computer graphics, a raster graphics image, or bitmap, is a data structure representing a generally rectangular grid of pixels, or points of color, viewable via a monitor, paper, or other display medium...
, collaboration software
Collaborative software
Collaborative software is computer software designed to help people involved in a common task achieve goals...
, hypertext
Hypertext
Hypertext is text displayed on a computer or other electronic device with references to other text that the reader can immediately access, usually by a mouse click or keypress sequence. Apart from running text, hypertext may contain tables, images and other presentational devices. Hypertext is the...
, and precursors to the graphical user interface
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
including the computer mouse
Mouse (computing)
In computing, a mouse is a pointing device that functions by detecting two-dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Physically, a mouse consists of an object held under one of the user's hands, with one or more buttons...
. As a pioneer of human-computer interaction, Engelbart is arguably SRI's most notable alumnus. He was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 2000. In 1964, Bill English, then chief engineer at the ARC, built the first prototype of a computer mouse from Engelbart's design. In the 1960s, liquid crystal display
Liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....
(LCD) technology was developed at RCA Laboratories, which became Sarnoff Corporation
Sarnoff Corporation
Sarnoff Corporation, with headquarters in West Windsor Township, New Jersey, was a research and development company specializing in vision, video and semiconductor technology....
, SRI's wholly owned subsidiary that was fully integrated into SRI in 2011.
From 1966 through 1972, SRI's Artificial Intelligence Center
Artificial Intelligence Center
The Artificial Intelligence Center at SRI International was founded in 1966 by Charles Rosen and studies artificial intelligence. One of their early projects was Shakey the Robot, the first general-purpose mobile robot. More recently, the center funded early development of CALO and Siri....
developed the first mobile robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
to reason about its actions. Named "Shakey the robot
Shakey the Robot
Shakey the Robot was the first general-purpose mobile robot to be able to reason about its own actions. While other robots would have to be instructed on each individual step of completing a larger task, Shakey could analyze the command and break it down into basic chunks by itself...
", the robot had a television camera, a triangulating
Triangulation
In trigonometry and geometry, triangulation is the process of determining the location of a point by measuring angles to it from known points at either end of a fixed baseline, rather than measuring distances to the point directly...
range finder
Rangefinder
A rangefinder is a device that measures distance from the observer to a target, for the purposes of surveying, determining focus in photography, or accurately aiming a weapon. Some devices use active methods to measure ; others measure distance using trigonometry...
, and bump sensor
Sensor
A sensor is a device that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a signal which can be read by an observer or by an instrument. For example, a mercury-in-glass thermometer converts the measured temperature into expansion and contraction of a liquid which can be read on a calibrated...
s. Shakey used software for perception, world-modeling, and acting. SRI's Artificial Intelligence Center marked its 45th anniversary in 2011. Hewitt Crane
Hewitt Crane
Hewitt D. Crane was an American engineer best known for his pioneering work at SRI International on ERMA , for Bank of America, magnetic digital logic, neuristor logic, the development of an eye-movement tracking device, and a pen-input device for computers.-Early life and career:Crane was born in...
and his colleagues developed the world's first all-magnetic digital computer, based upon extensions to magnetic core memories. The technology was licensed to AMP, who then used the technology to build specialized computers for controlling tracks in the New York City subway
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
and on railroad switching yards.
In 1969, ARPANET
ARPANET
The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network , was the world's first operational packet switching network and the core network of a set that came to compose the global Internet...
, the world's first electronic computer network, was established on October 29 between nodes at Leonard Kleinrock
Leonard Kleinrock
Leonard Kleinrock is an American engineer and computer scientist. A computer science professor at UCLA's Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, he made several important contributions to the field of computer networking, in particular to the theoretical side of computer networking...
's lab at UCLA and Douglas Engelbart's lab at SRI. Interface Message Processors at both sites served as the backbone
Internet backbone
The Internet backbone refers to the principal data routes between large, strategically interconnected networks and core routers in the Internet...
of the first Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. The following year, Engelbart's lab installed the first TENEX
TENEX
TENEX may refer to:* The TENEX operating system , an operating system for the DEC PDP-10* Tekhsnabexport, a Russian company specializing in export of nuclear materials...
system outside of BBN
BBN
BBN might refer to:* BBN Technologies, formerly Bolt, Beranek and Newman, a technology company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, best known for its work on packet switching technology and its construction of the Interface Message Processor - the first router...
where it was developed. In addition to SRI and UCLA, UCSB and the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
were part of the original four network nodes. By December 5, 1969, the entire four-node network was connected. In the 1970s, SRI developed other technologies, including packet-switched radio (precursor to wireless networking), over-the-horizon radar
Over-the-horizon radar
Over-the-horizon radar, or OTH , is a design concept for radar systems to allow them to detect targets at very long ranges, typically up to thousands of kilometers...
, Deafnet
Deafnet
Deafnet was created as a demonstration project in 1978 by SRI International at Washington's Gallaudet University for the deaf. It was funded by The United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to demonstrate the advantages of e-mail for deaf people...
, malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
treatments, vacuum microelectronics, laser photocoagulation
Laser photocoagulation
Laser coagulation or laser photocoagulation surgery is used to treat a number of eye diseases and has become widely used in recent decades...
(a treatment for some eye maladies), and software-implemented fault tolerance
Fault-tolerant system
Fault-tolerance or graceful degradation is the property that enables a system to continue operating properly in the event of the failure of some of its components. A newer approach is progressive enhancement...
.
In 1972, Harold E. Puthoff
Harold E. Puthoff
Harold E. Puthoff is an American physicist who, earlier in his career was involved in research on paranormal topics. In 1967, Puthoff earned a Ph.D. from Stanford University...
and Russell Targ
Russell Targ
Russell Targ is an American physicist and author, an ESP researcher, and pioneer in the earliest development of the laser....
initiated a series of human subject studies to determine whether participants could reliably identify and accurately describe salient features of remote locations or targets. The term remote viewing
Remote viewing
Remote viewing is the practice of seeking impressions about a distant or unseen target using paranormal means, in particular, extra-sensory perception or "sensing with mind"...
was coined to describe this overall process. In order to explore the nature of remote viewing channel, the viewer in some experiments was secured in a double-walled copper-screened Faraday cage
Faraday cage
A Faraday cage or Faraday shield is an enclosure formed by conducting material or by a mesh of such material. Such an enclosure blocks out external static and non-static electric fields...
. Although this provided attenuation of radio signals over a broad range of frequencies, the researchers found that it did not alter the subject's remote viewing capability. They postulated that extremely low frequency
Extremely low frequency
Extremely low frequency is a term used to describe radiation frequencies from 3 to 300 Hz. In atmosphere science, an alternative definition is usually given, from 3 Hz to 3 kHz...
(ELF) propagation might be involved, since Faraday cage screening is less effective in the ELF range. Such a hypothesis had previously been put forward by telepathy researchers in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. One of the individuals involved in these initial studies was Uri Geller
Uri Geller
Uri Geller is a self-proclaimed psychic known for his trademark television performances of spoon bending and other supposed psychic effects. Throughout the years, Geller has been accused of using simple conjuring tricks to achieve the effects of psychokinesis and telepathy...
, who was a celebrity psychic.
On November 22, 1977, SRI originated the first connection between three disparate networks. Data flowed seamlessly through a mobile van between SRI in Menlo Park, California and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles via London, England, across three types of networks: packet radio, satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
, and the ARPANET. This event is considered to be the first true Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
transmission. On November 7, 2007, the Computer History Museum
Computer History Museum
The Computer History Museum is a museum established in 1996 in Mountain View, California, USA. The Museum is dedicated to preserving and presenting the stories and artifacts of the information age, and exploring the computing revolution and its impact on our lives.-History:The museum's origins...
presented a 30th anniversary celebration of this demonstration, which included several participants from the 1977 event.
In the late 1970s, social scientist and consumer futurist Arnold Mitchell created the Values and Lifestyles psychographic
Psychographic
In the fields of marketing, demographics, opinion research, and social research in general, psychographic variables are any attributes relating to personality, values, attitudes, interests, or lifestyles. They are also called IAO variables...
methodology (VALS
VALS
VALS is a proprietary research methodology used for psychographic market segmentation. Market segmentation is designed to guide companies in tailoring their products and services to appeal to the people most likely to purchase them.VALS was developed in 1978 by social scientist and consumer...
) to explain changing U.S. values and lifestyles. VALS was formally inaugurated as an SRI product in 1978 and was later cited by Advertising Age
Advertising Age
Advertising Age is a magazine, delivering news, analysis and data on marketing and media. The magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930...
as "one of the ten top market research breakthroughs of the 1980s."
Diversification
In the 1980s, SRI developed, among other things, ZylonZylon
Zylon is a trademarked name for a range of thermoset liquid crystalline polyoxazole...
, stealth
Stealth technology
Stealth technology also termed LO technology is a sub-discipline of military tactics and passive electronic countermeasures, which cover a range of techniques used with personnel, aircraft, ships, submarines, and missiles, to make them less visible to radar, infrared, sonar and other detection...
technologies, improvements to ultrasound
Ultrasound
Ultrasound is cyclic sound pressure with a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is thus not separated from "normal" sound based on differences in physical properties, only the fact that humans cannot hear it. Although this limit varies from person to person, it is...
imaging, two-dimensional laser fluorescence imaging
Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy
Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy is a correlation analysis of fluctuation of the fluorescence intensity. The analysis provides parameters of the physics under the fluctuations. One of the interesting applications of this is an analysis of the concentration fluctuations of fluorescent...
, a multimedia electronic mail system, intrusion detection
Intrusion detection
In Information Security, intrusion detection is the act of detecting actions that attempt to compromise the confidentiality, integrity or availability of a resource. When Intrusion detection takes a preventive measure without direct human intervention, then it becomes an Intrusion-prevention...
expert system
Expert system
In artificial intelligence, an expert system is a computer system that emulates the decision-making ability of a human expert. Expert systems are designed to solve complex problems by reasoning about knowledge, like an expert, and not by following the procedure of a developer as is the case in...
s, theory of non-interference in computer security, a multilevel secure
Multilevel security
Multilevel security or Multiple Levels of Security is the application of a computer system to process information with different sensitivities , permit simultaneous access by users with different security clearances and needs-to-know, and prevent users from obtaining access to information for...
(MLS) relational database
Relational database
A relational database is a database that conforms to relational model theory. The software used in a relational database is called a relational database management system . Colloquial use of the term "relational database" may refer to the RDBMS software, or the relational database itself...
system called Seaview
Seaview
- Places:* Seaview, Victoria, Australia, locality in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia* Seaview, Canterbury, a suburb of Timaru, New Zealand* Seaview, Clifton beach, a beach in Karachi* Seaview, Isle of Wight, a small village in England...
, LaTeX
LaTeX
LaTeX is a document markup language and document preparation system for the TeX typesetting program. Within the typesetting system, its name is styled as . The term LaTeX refers only to the language in which documents are written, not to the editor used to write those documents. In order to...
, and order-sorted algebra
Algebra
Algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning the study of the rules of operations and relations, and the constructions and concepts arising from them, including terms, polynomials, equations and algebraic structures...
. On January 17, 1986, SRI.com became the 8th registered ".com
.com
The domain name com is a generic top-level domain in the Domain Name System of the Internet. Its name is derived from commercial, indicating its original intended purpose for domains registered by commercial organizations...
" domain. In the late 1980s and early 1990s the Artificial Intelligence Center developed the Procedural Reasoning System
Procedural Reasoning System
In Artificial Intelligence, the Procedural Reasoning System is a framework for constructing real-time reasoning systems that can perform complex tasks in dynamic environments...
(PRS) that launched the field of BDI-based Intelligent agents.
In the 1990s, SRI developed, among other things, ground- and foliage-penetrating radar, Open Agent Architecture (OAA), dry-powder drugs, remote surgery
Remote surgery
Remote surgery is the ability for a doctor to perform surgery on a patient even though they are not physically in the same location. It is a form of telepresence. Remote surgery combines elements of robotics, cutting edge communication technology such as high-speed data connections and elements...
(aka telerobotic surgery), bio-agent detection using upconverting phosphor technology, an easy-clean oven surface, the cancer drug Tirapazamine
Tirapazamine
Tirapazamine is an experimental anticancer drug that is activated to a toxic radical only at very low levels of oxygen . Such levels are common in human solid tumors, a phenomenon known as tumor hypoxia. Thus, tirapazamine is activated to its toxic form preferentially in the hypoxic areas of solid...
(now in clinical trials), ammonium dinitramide (ADN) – a novel environmentally benign oxidizer, network intrusion detection system
Network intrusion detection system
A Network Intrusion Detection System is an intrusion detection system that tries to detect malicious activity such as denial of service attacks, port scans or even attempts to crack into computers by Network Security Monitoring of network traffic.A NIDS reads all the incoming packets and tries to...
, the Maude system
Maude system
The Maude system is an implementation of rewriting logic developed at SRI International. It is similar in its general approach to Joseph Goguen's OBJ3 implementation of equational logic, but based on rewriting logic rather than order-sorted equational logic, and with a heavy emphasis on powerful...
(a declarative software language), the INCON and REDDE command and control system for the U.S. military, IGRS (integrated GPS radio system), an advanced military personnel and vehicle
Vehicle tracking system
A vehicle tracking system combines the installation of an electronic device in a vehicle, or fleet of vehicles, with purpose-designed computer software at least at one operational base to enable the owner or a third party to track the vehicle's location, collecting data in the process from the...
tracking system
Tracking system
Generally tracking is the observing of persons or objects on the move and supplying a timely ordered sequence of respective location data to a model e.g...
, natural language speech recognition
Speech recognition
Speech recognition converts spoken words to text. The term "voice recognition" is sometimes used to refer to recognition systems that must be trained to a particular speaker—as is the case for most desktop recognition software...
, assisted hydrothermal oxidation for safe, cost-effective disposal of hazardous materials, an advanced letter sorting system for the United States Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
, PacketHop, a revolutionary peer-to-peer wireless technology to create scalable ad hoc networks, electroactive polymer aka “artificial muscle”, and several landmark education and economic studies. SRI's research in network intrusion detection led to the landmark patent infringement
Patent infringement
Patent infringement is the commission of a prohibited act with respect to a patented invention without permission from the patent holder. Permission may typically be granted in the form of a license. The definition of patent infringement may vary by jurisdiction, but it typically includes using or...
case SRI International, Inc. v. Internet Security Systems, Inc.
SRI International, Inc. v. Internet Security Systems, Inc.
SRI International, Inc. v. Internet Security Systems, Inc. was a patent infringement case which determined whether technical documents placed on a company's FTP server could be considered prior art as defined by . The United States District Court for the District of Delaware, which had held four...
.
Recent history
In the 2000s, SRI developed, among other things, new uses for diamagnetic levitation; the Deployable Force-on-Force Instrumented Range System (DFIRST), which uses GPS satellites, high-speed wireless communications, and digital terrain map displays to train armored combat units during battle exercises; live-virtual-constructive training systems for the California National GuardCalifornia National Guard
The California National Guard is the component of the United States National Guard in the U.S. state of California. It comprises both Army and Air National Guard components and is the largest national guard force in the United States with a total authorized strength of 22,900 soldiers and airmen...
; Pathway Tools software, which aims to accelerate drug discovery by using artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
and symbolic computing techniques to analyze complex biological processes; BioCyc
BioCyc Database Collection
The BioCyc database collection is a set of biological databases. Databases within BioCyc describe genome and pathway information for individual organisms. BioCyc is maintained by SRI International, in Menlo Park, California....
, SRI’s growing collection of genomic databases and software tools used by biologists to visualize genes within a chromosome
Chromosome
A chromosome is an organized structure of DNA and protein found in cells. It is a single piece of coiled DNA containing many genes, regulatory elements and other nucleotide sequences. Chromosomes also contain DNA-bound proteins, which serve to package the DNA and control its functions.Chromosomes...
, complete biochemical pathways, and the full metabolic maps of organisms; the advanced modular incoherent scatter radar (AMISR), a novel relocatable atmospheric research facility under construction for the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
; the Centibots, one of the first and largest teams of coordinated, autonomous mobile robots that explore, map, and survey unknown environments; and speech recognition
Speech recognition
Speech recognition converts spoken words to text. The term "voice recognition" is sometimes used to refer to recognition systems that must be trained to a particular speaker—as is the case for most desktop recognition software...
and translation functionality for the VoxTec Phraselator
Phraselator
The Phraselator is a weatherproof handheld language translation device developed by VoxTec, a former division of the military contractor Marine Acoustics, located in Annapolis, MD.-The device:...
handheld speech translator, which has enabled U.S. soldiers overseas to communicate with local citizens in near real time.
SRI researchers made the first observation of visible light emitted by oxygen atoms in the night-side airglow
Airglow
Airglow is the very weak emission of light by a planetary atmosphere. In the case of Earth's atmosphere, this optical phenomenon causes the night sky to never be completely dark .-Development:The airglow phenomenon was first identified in 1868 by Swedish scientist...
of Venus
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
, offering new insight into the planet’s atmosphere. SRI education researchers conducted the first national evaluation of the growing U.S. charter schools movement. For the World Golf Foundation, SRI compiled the first-ever estimate of the overall scope of the U.S. golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
industry’s goods and services ($62 billion in 2000), providing a framework for monitoring the long-term growth of the industry. In April 2000, SRI formed Atomic Tangerine, an independent consulting firm that was part of a systematic move to bring new technologies and services to market. SRI Chairman Emeritus Samuel Armacost and SRI CEO Curt Carlson were on the board of directors. In keeping with SRI International's pioneering reputation, Atomic Tangerine was a first-of-a-kind venture consulting firm.
In 2006, SRI was awarded a $56.9 million contract with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health , an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services...
to provide preclinical services for the development of drugs and antibodies for anti-infective treatments for avian influenza, SARS, West Nile virus
West Nile virus
West Nile virus is a virus of the family Flaviviridae. Part of the Japanese encephalitis antigenic complex of viruses, it is found in both tropical and temperate regions. It mainly infects birds, but is known to infect humans, horses, dogs, cats, bats, chipmunks, skunks, squirrels, domestic...
, hepatitis
Hepatitis
Hepatitis is a medical condition defined by the inflammation of the liver and characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in the tissue of the organ. The name is from the Greek hepar , the root being hepat- , meaning liver, and suffix -itis, meaning "inflammation"...
, and more. Also in 2006, SRI selected St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St...
as the site for a new marine technology research facility. SRI St. Petersburg aims to accelerate research and development of technologies related to ocean science, the maritime industry and port security
Port security
Port security refers to the defense, law and treaty enforcement, and counterterrorism activities that fall within the port and maritime domain...
. SRI's expansion into Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
is a collaboration with the University of South Florida
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida, also known as USF, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, one of the state's three flagship universities for public research, and is located in Tampa, Florida, USA...
College of Marine Science and its Center for Ocean Technology, and is supported by the City of St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, and the State of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
In December 2007, SRI launched Siri, Inc. In April 2010, Apple acquired Siri, Inc.
Siri (software)
Siri is an intelligent software assistant and knowledge navigator functioning as a personal assistant application for iOS. The application uses a natural language user interface to answer questions, make recommendations, and perform actions by delegating requests to a set of web services...
, an SRI spin-off company. In October 2011, Apple announced the Siri personal assistant as an integrated feature of the Apple
Apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
iPhone 4s
IPhone 4S
The iPhone 4S is a touchscreen slate smartphone developed by Apple Inc. It is the fifth generation of the iPhone, a device that combines a widescreen iPod with a touchscreen, mobile phone, and internet communicator. It retains the exterior design of its predecessor, iPhone 4, but is host to a range...
. Siri's technology was born from SRI's work on the DARPA-funded CALO
CALO
CALO was an artificial intelligence project that attempted to integrate numerous AI technologies into a cognitive assistant. CALO is an acronym for "Cognitive Assistant that Learns and Organizes". The name was inspired by the Latin word "calonis," which means "soldier’s servant"...
project, described by SRI as the largest artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
project ever launched. Siri was co-founded in December 2007 by Dag Kittlaus (CEO), Adam Cheyer (vice president, engineering), and Tom Gruber (CTO/vice president, design), together with Norman Winarsky (vice president of SRI Ventures). Investors included Menlo Ventures
Menlo Ventures
Menlo Ventures is a venture capital firm located at 3000 Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California.The firm was founded as one of the earliest venture capital firms in Silicon Valley in 1976 and provides provides technology venture capital funding for seed, early stage and growth companies...
and Morgenthaler Ventures. In May 2011, SRI was awarded a $42 million contract to operate the Arecibo Observatory
Arecibo Observatory
The Arecibo Observatory is a radio telescope near the city of Arecibo in Puerto Rico. It is operated by SRI International under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation...
from October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2016.
Employees and financials
In late 2011, SRI employed around 1,600 people. In 2010, SRI had about $495 million in revenue. In 2010, the United States Department of DefenseUnited States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
consisted of 67% of awards by value; the remainder was composed of the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
(10%); United States businesses (5%); other United States agencies (5%); the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
(4%); the United States Department of Education
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...
(3%); state and local governments (3%); international clients (3%); and foundations (1%). As of September 2010, approximately 1150 patents have been granted to SRI International and its employees.
Staff members and alumni
Spin-off companies
Working with investment and venture capitalVenture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
firms, SRI has launched more than 40 new ventures to date, including:
- Artificial Muscle, acquired by Bayer MaterialScienceBayer MaterialScienceBayer MaterialScience is an independent subgroup within Bayer AG. It was created as part of the restructuring of Bayer AG from the former business group Bayer Polymers, with certain of its activities being spun off to Lanxess AG...
, develops, designs, and manufactures actuator and sensing components based on electroactive polymersElectroactive polymersElectroactive Polymers, or EAPs, are polymers that exhibit a change in size or shape when stimulated by an electric field. The most common applications of this type of material are in actuators and sensors. A typical characteristic property of an EAP is that they will undergo a large amount of...
. In 2011, AMI announced ViviTouch™, bringing sensory vibration to the mobile gaming experience. - Averatek, formed by SRI and CSL LLC, offers products manufactured by an innovative proprietary metal "print and plate" process used to make flexible circuit materials and components.
- Communications Intelligence Corporation (OTC BB: CICI) supplies electronic signature solutions and biometric signature verification to the financial industry.http://www.cic.com/
- Intuitive SurgicalIntuitive SurgicalIntuitive Surgical Inc. is a corporation that manufactures robotic surgical systems, most notably the da Vinci Surgical System. The da Vinci Surgical System allows surgery to be performed remotely using robotic manipulators. The company is part of the Nasdaq-100 and S&P 500...
(Nasdaq: ISRG) is a leader in the rapidly emerging field of robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery, offering the da Vinci Surgical SystemDa Vinci Surgical SystemThe Da Vinci Surgical System is a robotic surgical system made by Intuitive Surgical and designed to facilitate complex surgery using a minimally invasive approach...
. - Intuity Medical, offers diabetes management solutions. They are developing a blood glucose monitoring system designed to make testing easy, convenient and discreet.
- Lamina Ceramics, now a subsidiary of Lighting Science Group Corporation, makes advanced lighting products.
- Lightscape Materials develops and supplies novel phosphor solutions engineered specifically for the LED lighting industry.
- Locus Pharmaceuticals accelerates discovery and development of novel, small molecule drug therapies.
- Nuance CommunicationsNuance CommunicationsNuance Communications is a multinational computer software technology corporation, headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, USA, that provides speech and imaging applications...
(Nasdaq: NUAN) provides speech and imaging solutions for customer service and healthcare. - Orchid CellMark offers proprietary pharmacogeneticsPharmacogeneticsThe terms pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics tend to be used interchangeably, and a precise, consensus definition of either remains elusive...
and microfluidicsMicrofluidicsMicrofluidics deals with the behavior, precise control and manipulation of fluids that are geometrically constrained to a small, typically sub-millimeter, scale.Typically, micro means one of the following features:* small volumes...
platform technologies. - Power Survey Company provides mobile contact voltage detection services to utilities and municipalities worldwide.
- Princeton Lightwave makes high-performance optical components for advanced network applications.
- PVI Virtual Media ServicesPVI Virtual Media ServicesPVI Virtual Media Services is one of the companies behind the virtual yellow-down-line shown on television broadcasts of American football games in the USA and Canada...
offers virtual advertising and imaging solutions for television. - Secure Products develops anti-counterfeiting and anti-diversion systems based on material marking and recognition technology.
- SiriSiri (software)Siri is an intelligent software assistant and knowledge navigator functioning as a personal assistant application for iOS. The application uses a natural language user interface to answer questions, make recommendations, and perform actions by delegating requests to a set of web services...
was acquired by Apple in 2010. Its virtual personal assistant technology is included in the iPhone 4SIPhone 4SThe iPhone 4S is a touchscreen slate smartphone developed by Apple Inc. It is the fifth generation of the iPhone, a device that combines a widescreen iPod with a touchscreen, mobile phone, and internet communicator. It retains the exterior design of its predecessor, iPhone 4, but is host to a range...
. - Social Kinetics, acquired by RedBrick HealthRedBrick HealthRedBrick Health is a health technology and services company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. RedBrick Health is privately held and works with large, self-insured employers and progressive health plans to create healthier, more productive workforces....
in 2010, provides methods and technology for driving the success of enterprise social media. - Songbird Hearing created the world's first disposable hearing aid.
- SRI Consulting (SRIC), a division of IHS Inc.IHS Inc.IHS Inc. is a publicly traded business information services company based in Douglas County, Colorado, United States.IHS serves international clients in five major areas: energy, product lifecycle, environment, security and TMT . IHS provides industry data, technical documents, custom software...
, is a leading business research service for the global chemical industry. - Strategic Business Insights (SBI), formerly SRI Consulting-Business Intelligence, combines ongoing research with consulting services to create insights that affect customers, business, and technology.
- Tout offers a web application that captures life's defining moments via real-time video streaming and sharing.
- Trapit offers a virtual personal assistant that uses artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
to understand your interests and personalize the web.