Armed Services Train in Virtual World

It all began in 2001 when a Czech game studio released an award winning video game title on the PC called Operation Flashpoint. Developed by Bohemia Interactive Studio, the game was praised as being the most realistic war game to ever hit the market. Booming in sales with millions of copies sold, Bohemia Interactive decided to take what they have created, only this time create a product that deviates from gamers, and focuses on the United States Armed Forces and others.

A new Bohemia Interactive was built in Australia, where Operation Flashpoint would be amped up into what's called Virtual Battle Space 1 (VBS1). The USMC now uses VBS1, training soldiers in combat and strategy. It is also used by Australia and New Zealand.

With technology on the rise and computers becoming more powerful, Bohemia Interactive Australia (BIA) has now released VBS2, a far more advanced training simulator, with improved visuals and also taking advantage of cutting-edge technology.

Among these improvements is the Air crewman Virtual Reality Simulators (AVRS). Selected by Australia in 2006, Bohemia Interactive was asked to develop a Virtual Air crewman trainer that would help actual Air crewman fine-tune the necessary skills required out in the field. In this video we see the technology at work. A man stands safely in a white box in an office, looking at a carpet - but in the virtual world, he's in a helicopter, flying 35 feet in the air, aiding the pilot to safely land on board an aircraft carrier. Another video demonstrates a similar scenario, this time in a night setting, where the Air crewman must rely on his night vision goggles. Also demonstrated, a video clip of an air marshal waving his orange wand, signaling the pilot of a helicopter.

Other technology in partnership with Lasershot Inc. has lead to such devices like the Tactical Weapons Simulator (TWS) which allows soldiers to train in a virtual shooting range.

Some features go beyond just fun gadgets. The level of customization to suit the specific needs of the Military is perhaps what's most impressive and extensive. VBS2 features AAR (After Action Review), a tool that remembers each training scenario that is played out. If a soldier does something wrong, like getting himself killed, AAR will allow the individual, or perhaps the entire squad to see what went wrong. An extensive scenario editor caters to very specific training needs. It allows the user to place many objects on a massive battlefield, such as enemy units, tanks, helicopters, random objects and more.

BIA also trains the military in using their extensive content creation tools, ranging from 3D modeling to terrain generation and more.

Safer than the real thing and almost as real as reality, VBS2 hopes to save at least one life in today's troubling times and conflicts around the world.