ORLANDO, Fla. – The infantrymen moved through a village, constantly turning to check their six and keep an eye on bystanders. Then things went south.
They perceived a threat, swung around to take aim. Weapons fire blasted through the exhibit hall of the Orlando convention center.
Simulated weapons fire, of course. Two men in chinos and black shirts, wearing the Army's virtual simulation training system, took off their harnesses after their demonstration and one of them noted that it was strange to glance down at his arm and see a camouflage uniform sleeve there.
The Army's Dismounted Soldier Training System, on display at I/ITSEC, is the service's first fully immersive virtual simulation training for soldiers, according to Intelligent Decisions, whose simulation and training division is located here.
The system is used by the Army's Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI), as part of its virtual training environment. Most recently, it's part of VBS3, the Army's latest virtual battlespace training game.
The company is displaying new upgrades to its two-year-old, $57 million system at the show.
"We have up-to-date technology, the processors are stronger, faster," Gary Delgado, program manager for Intelligent Decisions, told Defense News. "Some of the weapons are new as well. The camera on top of the helmet is new, with a more realistic and accurate tracking system for the weapon."
The Army procured the upgrades for the Army National Guard, he said.
Soldiers can train on the system as a squad, carry realistic weapons and talk to the other soldiers. A computer backpack processes the 3D virtual environment.
Trainers can create scenarios, adapt them, and stop and restart them. An exercise control workstation monitors every soldier in the simulation. An after-action review area allows them to see what just happened, down to the shots fired and what the soldiers said.
Soldiers control their avatar's movement by a joystick on the weapon, and motion-tracking sensors on the body convey the soldier's motion. They can walk or run with their avatar through the joystick, while the soldier stays standing on a round pad.
Each soldier gets a 10-by-10-foot area. The Army did not have a requirement for the soldier to actually walk around, Delgado said, and that would require more space for training. The pad is a reference point, so if they move and don't feel the pad underneath, they know to go back so they don't run into other soldiers, he said.
The system evolves based on the Army's needs. For example, the system has a peripheral field of view, including 360-degrees when the users turn, but it may be upgraded.
"We're gathering feedback from the Army in terms of span of view that they would like to have, that they would widen the field of view a little more, but that depends on feedback they get from the field and the effect it may have on soldiers," Delgado said. ■
Email: kcurthoys@armytimes.com.
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