Gaming, Simulation and other tech for the NexGen warfighter

[ashdivay]

Yes, for combined arms capability, Battlefield 3 is a better fit. As the earlier video says, Call of Duty is being used for Infantry level tactical training and area familiarization.

I had to go look up Battlefield 3 vid on youtube , I watched this video http://youtu.be/9UwOrl036_A to know what you are talking about. I must say if training was to be based entirely on "Eye-Candy" then yes everybody should use Battlefield 3 and not just teenage gamers.

Nothing about that video was realistic well maybe the texture and terrain but everything else THAT MATTER was "Video_Gamish" The Gunnery, the battle drills, the commands , The Ammo. The ballistics.

I guess you cant sell BF3 to Teenage Video Gamers if you make it truly "REALISTIC". NO OFFENSE Intended !

[Krishnakg]

Yes, for combined arms capability, Battlefield 3 is a better fit. As the earlier video says, Call of Duty is being used for Infantry level tactical training and area familiarization.

I had to go look up Battlefield 3 vid on youtube , I watched this video http://youtu.be/9UwOrl036_A to know what you are talking about. I must say if training was to be based entirely on "Eye-Candy" then yes everybody should use Battlefield 3 and not just teenage gamers.

Nothing about that video was realistic well maybe the texture and terrain but everything else THAT MATTER was "Video_Gamish" The Gunnery, the battle drills, the commands , The Ammo. The ballistics.

I guess you cant sell BF3 to Teenage Video Gamers if you make it truly "REALISTIC". NO OFFENSE Intended !

If you had to look up BF3 on Youtube to know what I am talking about, and you see a random fanvideo, that you have used to base your judgement upon, then we are not on the same page, or rather you are missing the point . I mentioned BF3 because it was implied in your earlier post that you know about "Call of Duty" and you are into graphics. BattleField 3, Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 3, Arma 2, Crysis 2 etc., are all commercial consumer games. I never said that they are truly realistic. They represent the cutting edge of the civilian graphic rendering and game engine capabilities as of now, and that is what is important. And why is it important ? If our current Mil simulators and the rendering engines being used by developers in India produce graphics akin to Tom & Jerry, the above game engines produce something equivalent to Avatar, on off the shelf desktop systems.

Please go through my earlier posts. I had posted about how US army supports and uses, off the shelf consumer grade games to develop low cost simulator. That is the point.

US already fields a number of so called realistic simulators built at a huge budget. Simulators compliant with the Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) standard, compatible and interoperable with other combined arms tactical trainers (CATT). Among them is the Army Aviation Combined Arms Tactical Trainer, AVCATT-A, Lockheed Martin Close Combat Tactical Trainer, CCTT. Others include the Engineer CATT, Air Defense CATT and Fire Support CATT. These Mil grade simulators with a 53 foot long semi trailers and hours spent in configuring a scenario each time would give you realism at a price point which our bean counters in armed forces would hesitate buying into.

Let me give you a simplistic analogy, you could use a custom built Nissan P60 (Jabalpur Ordnance aNd Guncarriage Assembly-JONGA, built with crores of investment into low rate production line) or just buy off the shelf low cost, fuel efficient, modern Mahindra or Maruti Gypsy to train an army driver. The driver learns to drive, while being cost effective, period. Once, he has mastered that he can proceed to learning realistic nuances in other battlefield vehicles. The idea is to be mission effective and cost effective. That's where using commercially available game engines (eg: CryEngine 3, Frostbite) to power simulators built with regular desktops makes sense.

Eg: couple of links where consumer game engine being used in pro military sims.

[Krishnakg]

Recent post in Strategypage.

For two decades now military organizations have been increasingly using commercial game software as a basis for training and planning simulations. One of the latest efforts is a war game, for training boarding parties. This is used by sailors from NATO countries serving on anti-piracy or interdiction patrols who actually board suspicious ships. What makes this training wargame unique is its use of the Kinect motion sensor on the XBox gaming console. Released in 2010, Kinect was a more capable competitor for the Wii device that shook up the gaming world when it appeared in 2006. The developer of Kinect (Microsoft) allowed developers free access to Kinect software and released a version for Windows in 2012. This made it possible for all sorts of innovative applications to be created and sell a lot of additional Kinect hardware.

The boarding simulation (MIOmoves or Maritime Interdiction Operational moves) allows boarding parties to use hand and arm signals as well as voice commands to move through video game like training scenarios showing typical (or not-so-typical) boarding situations. It allows for boarding party personnel to train realistically but without the need to actually have a variety of ships to actually board and move through, or a lot of people playing passengers and crew on the many different ship types you can encounter in various parts of the world.

Over the last decade there has been growing use of commercial gaming software for military training. MIOmoves was not the first to use gaming technology to simulate tactical operations. For example, two years ago the U.S. army ordered a training simulation for infantry using the same underlying software found in the popular Crysis games. The developer bought a license to CryEngine 3, a software development system (or “game engine”) created from the Crysis software. A game engine is the basic computer code for a game. Add your own graphics and scenario information and you have what appears to be another game. Most commercial games either build their own engine or, more frequently, rent one from someone else. The CryEngine 3 was developed for Crysis, a first person shooter (FPS) wargame acknowledged as the most graphically stunning ever. Crysis first appeared in 2007, and the three versions of CryEngine have been used to create dozens of commercial games and training simulations.

Using CryEngine 3 the new DSTS (Dismounted Soldier Training System) was ready for use within a year and has become extremely popular with the troops. That’s because combat troops tend to be fans of video games and DSTS puts them right inside a very realistic video game. To do this each participating soldier stands on a 3.22 meter square (10x10 foot) mat that records the soldier's foot movements. This mat enables (along with other sensors) the game to record the soldier's movement. Meanwhile, the soldier will be totally immersed in the game via tiny goggle displays. The small video screens inside the eyepieces mean that, when looking straight ahead, there is a high-resolution display of what the soldiers should see. There is still some peripheral vision to help avoid moving off the mat or bumping into nearby soldiers. Earphones provide realistic audio. A hand held controller handles weapons and equipment. Running in place moves the soldier forward and a turning motion allows movement in any direction within the game's virtual world. Each soldier has the equivalent of a high-end gaming laptop in their backpack, to drive the system. All soldiers in a training exercise are networked and use existing commercial software to enable them to coordinate their movements. Troops can enter buildings, duck behind cover, or hit the ground. If they are "hit" they will be disabled to varying degrees or killed (and go off line, leaving only a virtual corpse behind for their fellow troops to see). DSTS is used to train fire teams (4-5 troops) and squads (two or three fire teams) and each DSTS system can be set up in a shipping container and moved around to different units as needed.

MIOmoves and DSTS are part of a trend that got into high gear 13 years ago when senior army commanders, noting that the troops spent a lot of time playing video games, hired video games developer Pandemic to create "Full Spectrum Warrior" (FSW). Compared to your usual FPS video game, the military version of FSW seemed to drag along at times. It could take a minute or more for troops to do some things, like move to another position or use a smoke grenade (it takes nearly a minute for the smoke screen to form) that would be nearly instantaneous in commercial games depicting the same situations. But reality is slower and that’s why the troops liked FSW.

The player assumes the role of the squad leader and uses the video game controller to intuitively give battlefield type commands to the two team leaders or, if need be, individual troops. The use of the game controller and the game software is pretty intuitive, allowing the player to handle a real time battlefield game without the game controls getting in the way.

FPS was played like any other FPS video game but was a big hit with the troops because of its realism. The troops could use the same drills and tactics taught to U.S. Army infantrymen and get similar results. The game was quite effective in showing users how well trained combat troops are supposed to move. One reason the army put over a million dollars into FSW was another program, begun in 2002, to improve the combat skills of non-combat troops. FSW appeared to be a painless way to expose these clerks, mechanics, cooks, and office workers what they should do when under fire. There were scenarios in the game covering situations where non-combat troops have to fight. Many non-combat units are informally organized into squad sized units and often have machine-guns assigned as well. But unless the non-combat troops take their machine-guns and assault rifles out of the arms room regularly and practice, it does them little good to be armed.

The initial batch of FSW scenarios involved going after irregular type fighters in Middle Eastern locations. By using the XBox, the players got photo realistic graphics and equally realistic sound. The army worked closely with the developers to make sure that the game was extremely realistic. The game was eventually available for free to anyone in the army (active and reserve). Ultimately, the military and commercial versions shipped on the same CD. That way, civilians could experience the more realistic, but less "fun", military version (which has strictly realistic ammo loads and time durations for battlefield procedures). The artificial intelligence of the enemy force was pretty realistic and deadly.

FSW was well received and led to DSTS and MIOmoves, which was made possible by advances in small displays (that, when placed in front of the eyes, and powered by Crysis class graphics, made you feel like you were inside the game), sensors, and graphics hardware. The CryEngine 3 also allows accurate representation of vehicles, missiles, aircraft, and all sorts of terrain. DSTS and MIOmoves are also used for mission planning and rehearsal, as well as training. The German firm that created CryEngine and Crysis has had a lot of success selling their development software for creating non-military training simulations for all sorts of civilian occupations.

For a long time the U.S. dominated the market for commercial and professional wargames, but firms outside the U.S. are becoming more prominent in the field of professional wargames. A French firm, for example, supplies military users with a large scale (battalions, brigades, or divisions) wargame (MASA SWORD) and a civil version for disaster operations. The French publisher got started in 2001 with Conflict Zone and then moved on to professional (as opposed to entertainment) games, models, and simulations.

[saps]

Recently read a lot about 3-D printing advances in China and its uses in sophisticated equipment. Comments and updates please !!

[deepan gill]

I recently visited Universal Studios in Orlando and saw Transformers ride. My god, the simulation was superb, with 3D glasses and 360 PAN it was as if you were in a live environment with destruction etc. This tech can be used for Disaster Management and for defensive purposes as well.

PS: Are BR folks working in making a simulation game???

[Krishnakg]

A.I. DOWNS EXPERT HUMAN FIGHTER PILOT IN DOGFIGHT SIMULATION

In the military world, fighter pilots have long been described as the best of the best. As Tom Wolfe famously wrote, only those with the "right stuff" can handle the job. Now, it seems, the right stuff may no longer be the sole purview of human pilots.
A pilot A.I. developed by a doctoral graduate from the University of Cincinnati has shown that it can not only beat other A.I.s, but also a professional fighter pilot with decades of experience. In a series of flight combat simulations, the A.I. successfully evaded retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Gene "Geno" Lee, and shot him down every time. In a statement, Lee called it "the most aggressive, responsive, dynamic and credible A.I. I've seen to date."
And "Geno" is no slouch. He's a former Air Force Battle Manager and adversary tactics instructor. He's controlled or flown in thousands of air-to-air intercepts as mission commander or pilot. In short, the guy knows what he's doing. Plus he's been fighting A.I. opponents in flight simulators for decades.
But he says this one is different. "I was surprised at how aware and reactive it was. It seemed to be aware of my intentions and reacting instantly to my changes in flight and my missile deployment. It knew how to defeat the shot I was taking. It moved instantly between defensive and offensive actions as needed."
The A.I., dubbed ALPHA, was developed by Psibernetix, a company founded by University of Cincinnati doctoral graduate Nick Ernest, in collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory. According to the developers, ALPHA was specifically designed for research purposes in simulated air-combat missions.
The secret to ALPHA's superhuman flying skills is a decision-making system called a genetic fuzzy tree, a subtype of fuzzy logic algorithms. The system approaches complex problems much like a human would, says Ernest, breaking the larger task into smaller subtasks, which include high-level tactics, firing, evasion, and defensiveness. By considering only the most relevant variables, it can make complex decisions with extreme speed. As a result, the A.I. can calculate the best maneuvers in a complex, dynamic environment, over 250 times faster than its human opponent can blink.
After hour-long combat missions against ALPHA, Lee says,"I go home feeling washed out. I'm tired, drained and mentally exhausted. This may be artificial intelligence, but it represents a real challenge."
The results of the dogfight simulations are published in the Journal of Defense Management.

http://www.popsci.com/ai-pilot-beats-ai ... n-dogfight

[kit]

that time has come when AI defeats human in chess to aerial warfare ! ..this is very well the future

[kit]

https://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htair ... 60823.aspx

The U.S. Air Force recently tested the PSIBERNETIX software in a combat simulator against experienced human pilots. The software controlled aircraft could not be defeated, at least not yet. What shocked the experienced human pilots, who had the technical skills to understand what the PSIBERNETIX software did and how it did it, was that the new software, as many software developers have been predicting, can outperform humans because with enough information (from the growing number of sensors available to manned or unmanned combat aircraft) the software can think faster than the human pilot. This is how software eventually defeated the best human chess players and have replaced humans in many jobs that require absorbing a lot of data, sorting it out and making decisions quickly.

[Kannan]

Arma2/Arma3 shouldn't be lumped in with CoD and Battlefield, it intends to be highly realistic (as opposed to a fun arcade game) with enormous emphasis placed on adrenaline, eyesight/focus/darkness adjustments, and their impact on firing, a huge value placed on stealth/hiding, and quite frankly, some boring missions if you're looking to shoot things. It mimics a lot of annoyances and troubles I have on a strenuous hike through terrain and firing a weapon, so I imagine it is closer than the rest in terms of being a simulator.

[sajaym]

Hello All,

I've recently downloaded a game called 'Marina Militare' on my mobile. It has got simulation for an AV-8B Harrier II. In order to fly it properly I would like details on takeoff and landing procedures of actual Harriers.

If any of you know any retired Indian Navy Sea Harrier pilots, please request them for the Takeoff and Landing SOP. I need takeoff and landing speeds/altitude for standard circuit around airport/carrier, flap setting, engine setting, lift jet setting for STOL and VSTOL.

Also same data required for Chetak and Sea King helicopters. My email id is sajayem@gmail.com

[ryogi]

This is a great thread, very relevant. I am a game designer by profession, and also teach game design and production for the last decade. One of my favourite subjects to teach is "Influence of video games" and it is mind-boggling how easy it is to condition human minds through simulations (such as games)!