2026-07-072026-07-07http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/10621The DENIS and 2MASS near infrared surveys are presented. Their applications in extragalactic astronomy and cosmology are listed. The prospects for a rapid spectroscopic followup survey of a near infrared selected sample of nearly $10^5$ galaxies are illustrated with Monte-Carlo simulations.Invited talk presented at XXXIst Moriond Meeting (held in les Arcs, France in Jan. 1996) "Dark Matter in Cosmology, Quantum Measurements, Experimental Gravitation". 8 pages, TeX with format file included, plus 3 PS figures includedAstrophysicstext