Beware Allure of Training Tech

 As it says, context matters a great deal when training. Will the VR actually change results? 

Beware the allure of training technology   By Tim Marler in Defense News

The allure of training technology can often overshadow its value. Today, virtual reality, or VR, is a hot topic in the military training community, but training tools must be developed and selected according to their anticipated use. Context matters, and sometimes the best and most cost-effective training tool may just be a book.

While VR offers many benefits, the Department or Defense could seek to ensure that virtual training content derives from operational needs, integrates with existing processes and curricula, and is validated. Furthermore, this process could be assessed and refined continuously because although we cannot predict the future of technology, we can be confident that what we need and what we want will change.

The United States military has always derived great benefit from novel technological advances, and today is no exception. Rapid acquisition and innovation are focal points for the DoD. This focus extends to training as well, where emerging technologies can present many opportunities. But too often the tie from various capabilities to actual training objectives can be tenuous at best.

Within the training arena, there is now considerable focus on virtual reality and augmented reality. VR involves a user being completely immersed in a virtual environment, and AR involves overlaying virtual entities on real items. The Army, for example, is developing the Integrated Visual Augmentation System that will allow soldiers to see what combat vehicles see, have 3D terrain maps projected onto their real field of view and enable other capabilities for increased situational awareness.

In addition, most of the services are developing aspects of live, virtual and constructive, or LVC, capabilities that can, for example, allow pilots in real jets (live) to train with pilots in flight simulators (virtual) in different locations, all interacting with computer-based (constructive) representations of adversary jets ..... '