With the widespread implementation of Virtual Battlespace 3 (VBS3) well underway, the reader might be forgiven for assuming that creator Bohemia Interactive Simulations is just sitting back and raking in the cash. Far from it. Enhancements major and minor are a consistent process within the company, according to Head of UK Sales and Operations Jonathan Read.
One of the areas in which the synthetic environment training tool has come in for user criticism in the past, according to Read, is the relatively low quality of the maritime environment compared with the robust and proven nature of the ground environment in which most training actions to date have taken place. Ever ready to take criticism on board and do something about it, however, the engineers at Bohemia got stuck in – and visitors to I/ITSEC 2014 in Orlando on December 1 were treated to a sneak preview of the results.
“The previous marine environment was pretty bland and nondescript,” said Read, “and did not easily lend itself to simulating operations such as launching a helicopter or mounting an amphibious landing with the same degree of realism and fidelity as ground troops enjoy in the system.” One of the easiest and fastest ‘fixes’ aimed at improving this has been to provide for simulation of ‘sea states’ – waves to the uninitiated. Easiest because, despite the undoubted difficulty associated with creation and rendering, the inclusion of waves in any scenario immediately helps with the trainee’s ‘suspension of disbelief’. He or she will expect waves and shifting horizons/perspectives to be part of any shipboard operation being simulated – the sight of such out of the bridge window has the effect of drawing the trainee more instinctively into the scenario – it ‘just feels right.’
Fastest? The demonstration being mounted at I/ITSEC took just four weeks to create, according to Read. Whilst he is the first to admit that there is a further six months or so of test, evaluation and improvements to be finalised, that is a pretty remarkable achievement from scratch by any standard. Although there is no motion associated with the changing sea states experienced by the trainees, that isn’t the purpose of a simulation like VBS3 in the first place. “To be frank we have had difficulty engaging with the maritime community in the past, since they had valid criticisms which we are now dealing with. This is quite a step forward and as a new feature in VBS3 it will help us expand the utility and relevance of the system to new sectors of our market,” said Read.
Internally funded and now in a test and evaluation period, VBS3 users can expect to see waves rolling over their virtual horizons some time around the middle of 2015.
One of the areas in which the synthetic environment training tool has come in for user criticism in the past, according to Read, is the relatively low quality of the maritime environment compared with the robust and proven nature of the ground environment in which most training actions to date have taken place. Ever ready to take criticism on board and do something about it, however, the engineers at Bohemia got stuck in – and visitors to I/ITSEC 2014 in Orlando on December 1 were treated to a sneak preview of the results.
“The previous marine environment was pretty bland and nondescript,” said Read, “and did not easily lend itself to simulating operations such as launching a helicopter or mounting an amphibious landing with the same degree of realism and fidelity as ground troops enjoy in the system.” One of the easiest and fastest ‘fixes’ aimed at improving this has been to provide for simulation of ‘sea states’ – waves to the uninitiated. Easiest because, despite the undoubted difficulty associated with creation and rendering, the inclusion of waves in any scenario immediately helps with the trainee’s ‘suspension of disbelief’. He or she will expect waves and shifting horizons/perspectives to be part of any shipboard operation being simulated – the sight of such out of the bridge window has the effect of drawing the trainee more instinctively into the scenario – it ‘just feels right.’
Fastest? The demonstration being mounted at I/ITSEC took just four weeks to create, according to Read. Whilst he is the first to admit that there is a further six months or so of test, evaluation and improvements to be finalised, that is a pretty remarkable achievement from scratch by any standard. Although there is no motion associated with the changing sea states experienced by the trainees, that isn’t the purpose of a simulation like VBS3 in the first place. “To be frank we have had difficulty engaging with the maritime community in the past, since they had valid criticisms which we are now dealing with. This is quite a step forward and as a new feature in VBS3 it will help us expand the utility and relevance of the system to new sectors of our market,” said Read.
Internally funded and now in a test and evaluation period, VBS3 users can expect to see waves rolling over their virtual horizons some time around the middle of 2015.
Tim Mahon