BeBop Sensors Among Top Selected Teams Across the Globe to Build the Base of the Future in AFWERX Challenge

BERKELEY, Calif. - Sept. 1, 2020 - PRLog -- BeBop Sensors the leader in smart fabric sensor technology with over four million state-of-the-art wearable smart fabric sensors shipped, announced today that AFWERX, the catalyst for fostering innovation within the U.S. Air Force, selected BeBop Sensors from over 1,500 submissions across the globe, competing in the Base of the Future Challenge to present their proposal for deploying their Forte Data Glove for every Airman.

BeBop Sensors is competing in the Culture of Innovation Challenge category alongside a diverse group of teams - originating from the vast regions of North America, Europe, Australia and other allied countries – that represent entrepreneurial startups, small businesses, large enterprises, academic institutions and research labs all vying to build the Base of the Future and modernize the Department of Defense with innovative technology.

The Culture of Innovation Challenge aims to strengthen and perpetuate a culture of innovation within the U.S. Air Force by improving workforce agility and breaking down barriers to change. Currently, the adoption of new technology is slow and presents a significant challenge for the Air Force, often frustrating Airmen who are readily trying to drive change. The Challenge looks to create new ways to increase community engagement among Airmen and develop education and training that supports enterprise-wide team development.

"The AFWERX Base of the Future Challenge is critical to our mission of increasing collaboration between large businesses and entrepreneurs to accelerate solutions for the Air Force," stated Mark Rowland of AFWERX. "On behalf of AFWERX and the Department of Defense, we congratulate the teams advancing to the next phase. Their contributions are invaluable and have the potential to create game-changing results across the Air Force enterprise."

BeBop aims to provide every Airman the technology for a lifetime learning that transcends the classroom to the flight line, hangar, cockpit, datacenter, and combat zone. BeBop's vision is to enable Airmen to use gestures with haptic feedback via BeBop's Forte Data Gloves to accelerate and improve training and virtual collaboration while making it rugged and weatherproof to use in the field.  BeBop enables:

• Training - design, delivery, and assessment leading to learning retention levels upwards to 90%
• Open and collaborative workspaces with touch and feel in large XR workspaces
• Data visualization and haptic interaction in 3D space
• Exploring new communications – gesture-to-speech and haptic communication; Remotely control robotics and UxV's
• Re-imagining the HMI to improve situational awareness on the battlefield and reduce the cognitive load on the Airman
• Reducing injuries with telerobotic control of devices in hazardous conditions such as ordinance handling/control

"We are honored to be selected as part of AFWERX's Base of the Future Challenge," said Keith McMillen, CEO, BeBop Sensors. "We aim to transform the way Airmen learn in the classroom and seamlessly transition to the battlefield with the BeBop Forte Data gloves. We are creating next-generation training tools that are immersive, safe, and provide our troops with a technological advantage in the future."

About BeBop Sensors & Award-Winning BeBop Sensors Products
BeBop Sensors products have won the Red Herring Award, the TIME Magazine Best Inventions Award, the IDTechEx Wearable Award, the Frost & Sullivan North American Technology Innovation Award, and the Gartner Cool Vendor Award. BeBop Sensors uses smart fabrics to create elegant sensor solutions for OEMs. BeBop's sensors comprehend force, location, size, weight, bend, twist, and presence across any size, resolution, and geometry. The sensors are available for a wide variety of applications, including military, industrial, medical, human factors, Virtual Reality, gaming, design, automotive, sports, and more. BeBop's technology is robust and proven with over four million sensors in daily use. BeBop Sensors makes things knowable for product designers and visionaries.

About AFWERX
Established in 2017, AFWERX is a product of the U.S. Air Force, directly envisioned by former Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson. Her vision of AFWERX — to solve some of the toughest challenges that the Air Force faces through innovation and collaboration amongst our nation's top subject matter experts. AFWERX serves as a catalyst to unleash new approaches for the warfighter through a growing ecosystem of innovators. AFWERX and the U.S. Air Force are committed to exploring viable solutions and partnerships to further strengthen the Air Force, which could lead to additional prototyping, R&D, and follow-on production contracts.