Virtually a Real Soldier
While virtual reality gaming is not quite available publicly for personal computers yet, the military has been making use of it for quite some time. In the Army, soldiers train both individually and as a unit using the virtual reality equipment. These specifically designed simulations mirror real-world situations that require soldiers to think on their feet and react as they would if the war game was real.
One problem so far has been that the in-game representations of the soldiers, called avatars, have not been realistic. Unlike in popular video games where the player has an avatar that usually has superhuman skills and amazing endurance, these soldiers need to train using a different type of avatar. That is why the Army has recently announced that they will be creating a custom avatar for every soldier.
These new avatars will look like and act like the soldiers they represent. In order to improve real world training applications for the virtual reality simulators, the soldier’s avatar will have the same skills and abilities the real soldier has. When a soldier passes a physical test in the real world, the Army will update their avatar based on the soldier’s performance on the test.
This means that the unit will have to adjust their simulation strategies to account for each member’s real weaknesses and strengths, just as they would have to do on a real battlefield. The Army believes that this new avatar system will greatly improve the effectiveness of the virtual reality simulation training. Soldiers will learn what they really are capable of in a war situation based on their simulations, and be better able to prepare for war.
Eventually, the Army wants to be able to create a virtual world in which soldiers can interact using their avatars and practice their simulations with others who are located anywhere in the world. This virtual reality technology, which is already being used for sensitivity training, could also be adapted for training with intercultural diplomatic situations.
Once this technology becomes easily available to the public, it will have very real implications on how we teach and train people. While the army is currently only using it for combat and cultural simulations, the applications for this kind of personal avatar in a virtual reality simulation will be endless. Virtual reality technology would even create a completely new field of computer support in order to keep up with the advances!
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