When choosing what we feel is the most important, innovative company to open in Ocala in the past 20 years, the criteria was steep. There have been so many wonderful companies that have provided residents with employment and security, but it couldn’t just be about the bottom line. We wanted to pick a company that was unique and decidedly different.
After much deliberation, we selected the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition.
This ordinary-looking building on the corner of Silver Springs Boulevard and Osceola Avenue in downtown Ocala once housed the Marion County Public Library. Today, it’s home to some of the world’s most extraordinary scientific minds, brought together to collaborate and pioneer technologies aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities. In 2010, IHMC brought a whole new industry to Ocala, opening their doors to the community and inviting us in to explore new, cutting-edge ideas and theories. They have shared robotics concepts with our students and have inspired some of our young people to pursue a career in science. They have stirred curiosity within us, and dare we say, made us feel a little smarter.
1Today, IHMC is working on improving our lives with innovations like a robotic exoskeleton that will offer fast, stable, upright mobility for paralyzed individuals and a specialized, comprehensive law enforcement drone program to enhance disaster response and search and rescue operations.
Thank you, IHMC, for choosing Ocala. We hope that being part of our community makes you feel just as enriched as you make us feel.
