Charles River Analytics Develops Virtual Environment System for US Army

Charles River Analytics Inc., developer of intelligent systems solutions, has received funding from the US Army to build its Virtual Environment Collaboration Tools for Operational Readiness (VECTOR) augmented and virtual reality (XR) system.

VECTOR uses synchronized virtual collaboration environments toallow distributed and dispersed Mission Command personnel to collaborativelyplan, rehearse and execute missions. VECTOR solves several problems faced bythe US Army; Mission Command tasks are increasingly more difficult as globalthreats become more distributed, agile, and technologically advanced.Traditional and stationary command posts often suffer from degradedconnectivity that limits communication and collaboration with distributedMission Command personnel.

“VECTOR enables Commanders and other stakeholders to rapidlyestablish a virtual collaboration environment that promotes shared situationalawareness and dispersed Mission Command execution, even under denied, degraded,intermittent, or limited network conditions,” said Arthur Wollocko, SeniorSoftware Engineer at Charles River Analytics and Principal Investigator on theVECTOR effort.

Commanders and soldiers can join VECTOR’s virtualenvironments through XR, mobile, and desktop applications. Once connected to asession, personnel can access a suite of collaboration tools that center on a3D geospatial battlefield common operating picture.

The VECTOR system advances the understanding of virtualcollaboration and data visualization in mixed reality. VECTOR augmentsCommanders’ situational understanding, allowing them to support Mission Commandacross networks and co-locations.

This material is based upon work supported by the ArmyFutures Command (AFC), US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC),Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance,and Reconnaissance (C5ISR), Command, Power and Integration (CP&I).