When you’re wearing a VR headset and immersed in a Mass Virtual XR training environment, the 360-degree view of the C-5 aircraft, a landing strip, some tents and the desert beyond feels almost real. You’re transported to a foreign landscape and getting a feel for the differences.
Refueling an F-16 mid-air becomes something you can practice repeatedly without draining the fuel budget or even leaving the ground. In the parallel universe, targeting and disabling an enemy tank becomes de rigueur.
The visuals are sophisticated enough to channel the importance of the task at hand, which could be servicing the aircraft, loading it with cargo or assessing a location.
The Orlando-based company Mass Virtual — responsible for the true-to-life scenario described above plus countless other modules — is one of the many companies that pitched their training simulation platforms at the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation & Education Conference the last week of November. The conference has drawn attendees from across the globe since 1966; 60 countries were represented this year.
The competition was fierce this year on the expo floor in the west concourse of the Orange County Convention Center. Everywhere you looked, you saw simulations designed for training warfighters. Military members from all branches of the U.S. Department of Defense and its allies combed the aisles looking for training tools to fit their exact spaces.
Highlights from the global simulation conference I/ITSEC
Training simulations keep advancing, and Tim Hill, director of Central Florida operations at Intuitive Research & Technology Corp., explained why.
“You're certainly not seeing processor power and some of that kind of stuff jump up at the rate it used to. But there are other capabilities causing the quality of simulations to advance. AI is certainly contributing, so that you can have a much more robust virtual players,” he said.
How these platforms collect and assess data also contributes to their competitiveness in a crowded field. “A lot of folks showcase measuring performance data while you're doing training events,” said Hill.
Closely tracking and interpreting student data during training is one part. Harnessing that information to customize the learning experience is another. That’s where serious advancements are being made.
While military application is front and center at the conference, Hill said in the past the conference has brought in oil and gas and health care executives, and curated guided tours for them to connect the dots between the technology they’re seeing at the expo and their own industries.
National Center for Simulation CEO George Cheros explained what some feared would affect the success of the conference. “Congress hasn’t passed a budget. If government doesn’t have a budget, they can’t travel. If the military can't travel, the simulation industry doesn't want to invest that much to be here. But things have opened up enough and there wasn't a government shutdown. Everything I'm hearing says it's going to be the largest one of these conferences in several years.”
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