Active

Contract Opportunity

**Amendment 004: The purpose of this amendment is to extend the response date from February 15, 2024 5:00 p.m. ET to February 28, 2024 5:00 p.m. ET. An amendment pursuant to this amendment is forthcoming to respond to questions posed during the inquiry period. All other terms and conditions remain unchanged.**

**Amendment 003: The purpose of this amendment is to extend the response date from February 15, 2024 5:00 p.m. ET to February 21, 2024 5:00 p.m. ET. An amendment pursuant to this amendment is forthcoming to respond to questions posed during the inquiry period. All other terms and conditions remain unchanged.**

**Amendment 002: The purpose of this amendment is to extend the response date from February 8, 2024 5:00 p.m. ET to February 15, 2024 5:00 p.m. ET. An amendment pursuant to this amendment is forthcoming to respond to questions posed during the inquiry period. All other terms and conditions remain unchanged.**

**Amendment 001: The purpose of this amendment is to extend the response date from February 1, 2024 5:00 p.m. ET to February 8, 2024 5:00 p.m. ET. An amendment pursuant to this amendment is forthcoming to respond to questions posed during the inquiry period. All other terms and conditions remain unchanged.**

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This is a Sources Sought Notice ONLY. Requests for copies of a solicitation will not receive a response. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of qualified business sources. This notice is strictly for market research and information purposes only. Responses will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible.

NIST is seeking responses from all responsible entities capable of fulfilling the requirement described herein. The applicable NAICS code for this effort is 541519 – Information Technology Value Added Resellers –with a small business size standard of 150 employees.

This Notice is for planning purposes only and is not a Request for Proposal or Request for Quotation or an obligation on the part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for conducting a follow-on acquisition. NIST does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Notice, or otherwise pay for the information requested. No entitlement or payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by NIST will arise as a result of submission of responses to this Notice and NIST use of such information. NIST recognizes that proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary data and present it as an addendum to the non-restricted/non-proprietary information. In the absence of such identification, NIST will assume to have unlimited rights to all technical data in the information paper.

This notice is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotes. No award will be made as a result of this notice. The Government will not be responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice.

The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in response to this notice; however, NIST will recognize as restricted or proprietary data which is clearly marked such.

BACKGROUND

The High Performance Computing and Visualization Group (HPCVG), is located in the Applied and Computational Mathematics Division (ACMD) in the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The Group develops novel algorithms and implementations for parallel and distributed computation, as well as innovative techniques for immersive scientific visualization in a variety of local and distributed hardware environments. They also develop and utilize techniques and tools of mathematical analysis, parallel and distributed computing, machine learning, and visualization to improve measurement science, including the extension of traditional measurement science to the virtual world. This is all in support of the NIST mission: “To promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life.”

HPCVG owns and operates a CAVE (CAVE Automatic Visualization Environment) for its immersive visualization work at the NIST Gaithersburg, MD site. A CAVE is a real-time hardware system that enables the user to see perspective-based true 3D images. For this to function correctly, the hardware system must be designed with real-time capability that enables viewing of real-time images.

This Immersive Visualization Environment (IVE), along with the software that the Group develops is on a critical path for all research in the Group. Its role is critical in HPCVG’s High Performance Computing work as it serves to speed code development and enable quick checking for errors as well as validation tests. It enables the visualization, measurement on visualizations, and analysis of results. This has led to solving critical outstanding problems in industry and contributing to the creation of standard reference materials and data. For example, it played a crucial role in the development of the standard reference materials for cement paste, mortar, and concrete.

The CAVE has come to the end of its life as the display system can no longer be maintained. In order to ensure continuity of research efforts and to keep pace with the rapid advancement of technology in this area, it is important that the IVE be upgraded. NIST requires an upgrade to the IVE/CAVE on the NIST Gaithersburg campus with newer display technology. Higher resolution and more complex data visualizations require a higher resolution and brighter display system with collaborative visualization capability. NIST has identified that a Direct View Light Emitting Diodes (LED) display system would offer a higher resolution and brighter display compared to its existing projection-based visualization system. Furthermore, a Direct View LED system would also be able to support dual view stereoscopic visualization where both users would have their own unique view angle of the visualization.

Thus, NIST is seeking potential sources that are capable of meeting NIST’s requirements as defined below. Note that NIST is seeking information from vendors with the ability to provide both Single View Capable Display and Dual View Capable Display, as defined in the Draft Specifications.

Note: Immersive Visualization system as applied in this requirement includes the capability of doing off-axis of doing off-axis perspective stereoscopic rendering.

SITE VISIT

A site visit will be conducted by NIST personnel to allow prospective vendors to view the space where NIST’s pre-existing equipment resides and to obtain a visual understanding of the potential work to take place.

While not required in order to submit a response to this Sources Sought Notice, prospective vendors are encouraged to schedule and participate in the site visit.

The Government does not anticipate hosting any future site-visits for this requirement for any subsequent solicitations.

Site Visit Details

The site visit is anticipated to be held on January 26, 2024 between the hours of 10:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET. Depending on the number of affirmative attendees and due to capacity constraints within the site visit location, multiple site-visit tours may be held on the aforementioned date. The Government will confirm the site visit timeslot with affirmative attendees no later than 48-hours before the site visit date.

Interested vendors must provide the following information with their requests:

1. Full name of each attendee (maximum of 2 attendees per vendor request). Note: The name provided must match the individual’s photo identification (driver’s license, passport, etc.), which must be presented at the NIST Security Office before the site visit;


2. Company Name;


3. (If subcontractor) Prime Company Name;


4. Contact Information for each attendee, including email address and phone number.

Questions will be allowed to be submitted following the site visit. Responses to questions posed will be addressed in the form of an amendment to the Sources Sought Notice. Photographs, video, and audio recordings are prohibited during the site visit.

To participate in the site visit, prospective vendors must submit its request via e-mail to Hing Pan Wong at hingpan.wong@nist.gov and Adam Powell at adam.powell@nist.gov. Requests must be received not later than January 23, 2024 12:00 p.m. ET.

QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS NOTICE

Questions regarding this Sources Sought Notice may be submitted via e-mail to Hing Pan Wong at hingpan.wong@nist.gov and Adam Powell at adam.powell@nist.gov. Questions are due by January 29, 2024 5:00 p.m. ET.

RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS

All responsible business sources able to provide the items/services described herein are asked to email a response to Hing Pan Wong at hingpan.wong@nist.gov and Adam Powell at adam.powell@nist.gov. Responses are due by February 8, 2024 5:00 p.m. ET.

Please include the following information in the response:

1. Name of company authorized to provide systems/services, along with their address and a point of contact for the company (name, phone number, and email address).


2. The company’s primary NAICS, size classification, and socio-economic status (i.e., Small Business, Woman Owned Small Business, Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, etc.).


3. Specific description of capabilities to provide the systems described herein.


4. A listing of at least three prior completed Linux-Based immersive visualization systems, which include multiple screen surfaces in differing spatial planes (i.e. tiling is insufficient) with minimal seams (3mm or less), and head and hand controller tracking. For each listing, vendors shall provide the following information:
   
   
   
   1. Contract number;
   
   
   2. Client’s name and address;
   
   
   3. Dollar value;
   
   
   4. Period of Performance;
   
   
   5. Narrative describing the requirement (including software tools used).
   
   
   
   


5. Information on any GSA Federal Supply Schedules (FSS) or other Government-wide contracts through which the company offers these systems/services, if applicable.


6. Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider.

Responses are limited to a maximum total of ten (10) pages in MS Word or searchable PDF format.

NOTE: REFERENCE ATTACHMENTS FOR COMPLETE SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE DOCUMENTATION.

Attachments/Links