Very Low Cost Universal Interactive Trainer

The proposed concept uses technology developed for the consumer entertainment market to meet the critical DoD need for low cost training simulators for use in soldiers' homes. Consumer products are emerging with unprecedented capability in graphics animation that may achieve the necessary fidelity for crew station training. The mass market potential of the entertainment industry could drive the cost to less than $2K per trainer. The technical approach defines a combat vehicle simulator based on a dual channel interactive multimedia platform, with a HDTV stereoscopic head-mounted display, 3D manual control and foot peal, stereo headphones, and a DSI interface to immerse a trainee in a realistic synthetic environment. The simulator is reconfigurable with custom software/courseware applications. The phase I objective is to demonstrate the viability of very low cost interactive multimedia platforms for crew station training in the home. All critical aspedtes of the objective system will be demonstrated with an NTSC based prototype. The proposed work includes crew station training requirements analysis, simulator concept definition, equipment integration, prototype simulations applications development, feasibility demonstration, and technical report generation. The report will address the integration of HDTV and other near-term technology into the prototype to achieve the objective capability. Anticipated Benefits: Successful demonstration of this capability will provide the Government with a training capability that extends well beyond combat vehicle simulation, to include industrial trainng and academic education in a wide variety of disciplines.