99--TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OPPORTUNITY -- ZONE ZEROING OUT NEGATIVE EFFECTS --BIOFEEDBACK TRAINING FOR OPTIMAL ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE

NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA solicits interest from companiesinterested in obtaining license rights to commercialize, manufacture and market thefollowing technology. License rights may be issued on an exclusive or nonexclusive basisand may include specific fields of use. THE TECHNOLOGY: ZONE is an innovative method for improving athletes responses to stress, anxiety, andloss of concentration during competition. In the training environment, when the usersuccessfully attains an optimal target state of psychophysiological functioning, thetechnology informs and/or rewards that user through real-time physical changes in theathletic equipment. For example, in the training setting, a golfer can work towardoptimal concentration in the act of putting, leading to improved performance in realsituations.The system uses perturbation feedback to help the athlete get into the zone through anoriginal method of ZONEthe method allows a trainee to learn physiological selfregulation in order to modify the difficulty of the performance task and/or environmentin which training is conducted. For example, better concentration leads to a variety ofeasier conditions on a training putting green.The technology incorporates software and hardware to provide real-time feedback to theathlete about how close his or her arousal and emotive responses are to an optimal staterequired to successfully perform the athletic task. This innovation presents thecapability to extend current sports training and psychological practices of guidedimagery visualization and cognitive reinforcement learning by systematically providingdemonstrable and relevant feedback through the use of closed-loop, cybernetic feedbackprinciples that provide immediate reinforcement of pyschophysiological self-regulationand translate into better skill-based performance.To express interest in this opportunity, please respond to Sean Sullivan, ResearchTriangle International (RTI), at: NASA Langley Research Center, Strategic RelationshipsOffice (SRSO), 17 West Taylor St., Mail Stop 218, Building 1212, Room 110 Hampton,Virginia, E-mail: [email protected], or phone: 757-864-5055. Please indicate thedate and title of the FBO notice and include your company and contact information.RTI is responsible for aggregating and acknowledging all responses. These responses areprovided to members of NASA Langleys Innovative Partnerships Office within the SRO forthe purpose of promoting public awareness of our technology products, and conductingpreliminary market research to determine public interest in and potential for futurelicensing opportunities. If direct licensing interest results from this posting, SRO willfollow the formal licensing process of posting in the Federal Register as required. Nofollow-on procurement is expected to result from responses to this Notice.