The U.S. Army spends $1.4 billion each year on elaborate virtual reality simulations, and in the past decade the electronic arts have taken the luster off live training, or what one of the Army's top simulation experts refers to as "go out in the woods and mess around." Today's motto? "All but war is simulation."
University of Southern California researchers are developing an immersive, virtual reality environment similar to MMPORGs that will help train U.S. soldiers to speak Arabic.
The U.S. Army, riding the success of its action video game America's Army, has set up a video-game studio with industry veterans to write other kinds of software to simulate training for a variety of armed forces and government projects.
Future virtual training environments may provide soldiers with computer-generated opponents who realistically portray anger, fear and fatigue. Researchers are adding human behavioral and cultural data to software to accurately depict crowd and adversary reactions. By introducing these layers of authenticity, scientists hope to enrich the quality of the learning experience that simulation systems offer.
Attempting to woo computer-savvy young people, the U.S. Army has released the first installment of an ambitious new computer game that will let players be all they can digitally be. The game lets a player assume the role of a new recruit on an Army team pitted in an online battle against terrorists.