Gaming technology helps troops learn language

DARPA is sponsoring the Tactical Language Project as part of its training superiority program, nicknamed DARWARS. As part of the project, scientists at the University of Southern California Center for Research in Technology for Education (CARTE) are creating an interactive, video game-based program designed to teach troops on post-war missions how to communicate in Levantine Arabic. In parallel development, the researchers are creating a second tutor for Iraqi Arabic. All a user needs is headphones, a computer with a good graphics card, and about 80 hours to use the program, which has two parts: an interactive game based on the popular unreal tournament and an interactive tutorial.