BISim to develop VR and AR training solutions for U.S. Navy

Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim), a developer of simulation and training software, won a U.S. Navy contract to provide air crew training using augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR) technologies.

BISim will provide an AR visual system for the Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) via PMA-205 and the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCTSD) that lets trainees interact with a physical T-45 simulator cockpit while immersed in a head-mounted displayed (HMD) virtual environment. The company will also develop two T-45 virtual reality part-task trainers (VR-PTTs) to supplement existing virtual and live training. Both solutions will feature image generation technology from BISim’s VBS Blue IG.

The AR visual system will immerse the pilot in a virtual environment where users can see and interact with a physical simulator cockpit that provides a full 360-degree field of display. If the development research is successful, it should be possible to use the proposed AR visual solution with any existing simulator – which, the company says would be a huge cost savings over traditional image generation and project-based solutions.

BISim will also create a second-generation VR-PTT with enhanced resolution and an improved user interface building on previous developments for the F/A-18. The VR-PTT will replicate the crew station, avionics and flight dynamics of the T-45 aircraft using VR technology to provide training at the point of need. Selected bio-sensing technology will create an intuitive user interface that tracks a user’s gestures in the real world and displays the results in the virtual environment. The interface lets the pilots select and interact with virtual buttons, dials and switches as they would in the real aircraft. The VR-PTTs will feature an aircraft dynamics and avionics simulation solution from SASimulation’s FLEX-air that is intended to support basic flight and cockpit familiarization, carrier operations and Basic Fighting Maneuvers (BFM).