Following up on last week´s blog we found the
following article: http://io9.com/5861137/army-wants-virtual-training-to-really-hurt
If you read last week´s blog and the article we
have posted this week then you now know that the army is considering giving
every soldier helmets for virtual reality training simulations and that they
can possibly incorporate real physical damage to these simulations.
First of all let me say that if this is in fact
true it is truly remarkable. One thing is to place a helmet on your head that
creates an alternative visual environment that may be similar to a combat
experience. Another thing is that a wrong move or decision within this virtual
environment may cause you physical harm. Certainly a soldier will have more at
stake during training that will force him to take his training more seriously.
If the threat of physical harm is not present in these simulations, a soldier
would be more likely to slack off and/or not take this particular training with the right approach.
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| Photo: U.S. Air Force |
Photo: Brett Flashnick / AP
On the opposite end of the spectrum I doubt
that the potential for physical harm in these simulations would be that
significant. First of all I´m not convinced the army would expose their
soldiers to serious injury in routine training. Secondly, the article mentions
that soldiers will not wear any protective gear during these sessions. If you
don´t need special or combat gear for training, then you are eliminating a
significant element from real life situations.
To us this is like boxers sparring. When boxers
spar, they wear cushioned protective gear on their heads and bodies so when
they hit each other they don´t cause unnecessary damage before a prize fight.
They simulate real boxing situations without the full element of damage. This
gives boxers an idea of what they will be facing come fight night, but they can
never create a situation where they get cleanly struck on the chin or liver and
therefore they cannot really simulate a situation where adversity comes from
significant physical pain.
At the end of the day adding a physical aspect
to virtual reality training sessions in the military is a step forward in
exposing soldiers to different simulated combat environments, but virtual
reality under these circumstances still probably doesn't offer sufficient
reality by itself.
Though like a boxer you don't feel the real weight of a punch until you are in the ring, the idea of sparring is a physical reminder of what has the potential to cause injury unless your skills recover and adjust, faster and more acutely than your opponents. And lets face it people break their noses while sparring, and blood does remind us of the possibility of getting hurt.
ReplyDeleteIn every day life one has the ability to trip, fall, break. Reminding soldiers during training of these possibilities by the use of virtual imagery allows the ability to understand that soldiers fear level. Fear is a creation of the mind, that simulates itself differently from person to person. In using a virtual tool to represent a reality can potentially create a more profound understanding for the individual as per the skills needed to sharpen when getting prepared for actual combat. Hope for the best, train for the worst.
Caro Zeller
Caro,
ReplyDeleteYou make very valid points. Nonetheless my particular doubt about using this type of technology in training soldiers is if in fact you can't train for the worst. My perception is that right now the technology is only effective for sharpening your skills in particular areas such as sniper skills, urban combat etc. Maybe with this sensor technology it might change, but i havent seen anything regarding the impact of this physical aspect that is being considered and that makes me skeptical.
Virtual Reality is a technology that has been advancing throughout the years and we gamers know that it gets closer to reality everytime a new video game is released, but graphics and sound is mostly what is improved.
ReplyDeleteMilitary training excercises shouldn't be based on this technology even if physical damage is incorporated because it will never be even close to what real life is, but it doesn't mean that it shouldn't be used, some practices and training programs for specific excercises can be based on virtual reality, things like sounds from specific bullets and guns should be something that every soldier should learn to understand, in order to be more aware of what they will be facing in real combat.
(kiiii)
This is quite similar to how pilots are trained using flight simulators. Even though we all know that things can be unpredictable in real life, these types of simulators are capable of training and preparing soldiers and pilots for unseen events and conditions. In addition, than it is to train them in real life situations. I must say that even though I consider virtual reality to be one of the most accurate technologies that exist today, real life training should also make part of a soldier's training.
ReplyDeleteI agree with aronovka. Virtual reality in conjunction with real life training is necessary for it to work. The possibilities with virtual reality training are practically endless.
ReplyDelete