  Nowadays there is compelling evidence for the existence of dark matter in the
Universe. A general consensus has been expressed on the need for a directional
sensitive detector to confirm, with a complementary approach, the candidates
found in conventional searches and to finally extend their sensitivity beyond
the limit of neutrino-induced background. We propose here the use of a detector
based on nuclear emulsions to measure the direction of WIMP-induced nuclear
recoils. The production of nuclear emulsion films with nanometric grains is
established. Several measurement campaigns have demonstrated the capability of
detecting sub-micrometric tracks left by low energy ions in such emulsion
films. Innovative analysis technologies with fully automated optical
microscopes have made it possible to achieve the track reconstruction for path
lengths down to one hundred nanometers and there are good prospects to further
exceed this limit. The detector concept we propose foresees the use of a bulk
of nuclear emulsion films surrounded by a shield from environmental
radioactivity, to be placed on an equatorial telescope in order to cancel out
the effect of the Earth rotation, thus keeping the detector at a fixed
orientation toward the expected direction of galactic WIMPs. We report the
schedule and cost estimate for a one-kilogram mass pilot experiment, aiming at
delivering the first results on the time scale of six years.
