Virtual Environment Training for Dismounted Teams - Technical Challenges

Abstract : Just as flight simulators enable pilots to safely practice responses to emergencies, the challenge now is to develop virtual environment technology for the training together of small teams on foot military squads, Coast Guard boarding parties, police, EMTs, emergency room trauma teams, hazmat teams, etc. Such training allows repeated, varied practice. The goal is you are there; you learn by doing with feedback; you jell as a team by doing together. First, we must clearly envision what is wanted. This we will call the Immersive Team Trainer (ITT). The successes of flight and ship bridge simulators encourage us. Their use for training mounted teams is a well understood and trusted accomplishment. Decades of development have brought flight simulators to mature excellence; simulators for training other vehicle crews are rapidly approaching this maturity. Such simulators have been proven to be not only more cost-effective per hour than live vehicle training, but more effective as well, since VEs can provide a higher density of experiences and the chance to practice rare and dangerous scenarios safely. The vision is to extend VEs for training dismounted teams effectively and cost effectively. This has not been done yet because it is technically much more difficult than immersive training for vehicle crews.

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