SBIR-STTR Award

Current Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) environments permit mechanized units to fight on a simulated battlefield. Participants in the simulated battle sit inside of physical mock ups of vehicles and engage both real and simualted opponents. The current DIS environments do not address a key tactical element: the infantry. The "cab simulator" approach to DIS does not allow for extension to involvement of dismounted infantry into simulated battles. The proposed effort will result in the development of a hybrid virtual reality interface combining total immersion with unencumbered body tracking to allow dismounted infantry to engage directly in a simulated exercise. The Dismounted Infantry Virtual Environment (DIVE) will combine state of the art in head mounted displays, video image tracking, and articicial intelligence to create a total immersion experience that will allow infantrymen to engage in DIS exercises.

Keywords:
DISTRIBUTED INTERACTIVE SIMULATION ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TRAINING VIRTUAL REALITY

Current Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) environments permit mechanized units to fight on a simulated battlefield. Participants in the simulated battle sit inside of physical mockups of vehicles and engage both real and simulated opponents. The current DIS environments do not address a key tactical element in the infantry. The "cab simulator" approach to DIS does not allow for extension to involvement of dismounted infantry into simulated battles. The proposed effort will result in the development of a hybrid Virtual reality interface combining total immersion with unencumbered body tracking to allow dismounted infantry to engage directly in a simulated exercise. The Dismounted Infantry Virtual Environment (DIVE) will combine state of the art technology in headmounted displays, video image tracking, and artificial intelligence to create total immersion experience that will allow infantrymen to engage in DIS exercises.