Development of an Enhanced Audio Replication System (EARS)

The technologies of Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) are becoming a cornerstone of military operations and research. Examples include DIS based training programs such as the Close Combat Tactical Trainer (CCTT) and emerging R&D environments such as the Battlefield Distributed Simulation Development (BDS-D) Battle Labs. Audio is a critical element in simulation. The perceived reality (or fidelity) of a simulation is significantly higher when sound is included. It is our belief that a basic DIS audio capability should be widely available on a commercial off the shelf (COTS) basis at reasonable cost (<$10000 per unit). A basic system of this type should be able to support stereo output of generic sound models for all entities (and sampled/processed models for the most common DIS entities), supported by basic effects including Doppler, relative position, propagation delays, and attenuation as a function of distance. Advances capabilities requiring more sophisticated hardware and/or software (such as Head Related Transfer Functions or HRTFs) shoul be made available as COTS options to users whose applications and budgets might support such requirements. This proposal describes the first phase of plan to develop and field a powerful, cost effective, DIS-compliant Enhanced Audio Replication System (EARS). The proposed effort will exploit our work-to-date in the area of Distributed Interactive Simulation and take advantage of our COTS network capabilites and COTS DIS-compliant communications systems.