Microsoft Game Software Preps Soldiers For Battle 44
coondoggie writes "Soldiers may go into battle better prepared to handle equipment and with a greater knowledge of their surroundings after an intellectual property licensing deal Monday between Microsoft and Lockheed Martin that will deepen the defense giant's access to visual simulation technology. The intellectual property agreement between the two focuses on Microsoft ESP, a games-based visual simulation software platform for the PC."
I/ITSEC (Score:4, Informative)
I was at I/ITSEC [iitsec.org] today. ( Interservice/Industry Training Simulation & Education Conference ) It was completely off the hook. There was an entire section devoted to what they called "Serious Games" and a few of them were actually fun to play and educational at the same time.
Of course a lot of the other stuff was quite a bit like a game as well, just involving high dollar hardware that most gamers could never afford. They had a simulator for dismounted troops that involved wearing VR gear inside what was basically a giant hamster ball set up on a frame that allowed it to roll around while staying in one place. I saw a number of demos for what they called organic tracking I think. Imagine something like Natal [xbox.com] but in a large area with cameras overhead, all around. They seemed to be pushing it as less expensive as sensors were not required on each individual. Still didn't look cheap. And of course there were tons of simulators for flying and driving that looked pretty typical. Still very cool.
It was wall to wall military folks and defense contractors and pretty much anyone looking to sell to the military or related type stuff. I saw a simulator for law enforcement that was pretty slick. It was all CGI so unlike the type that use film, the person in the simulator could affect the outcome. Pretty wild.
I think the game thing has been going on for some time and will continue to develop inside and outside the military. One game I looked at was for teaching Information Security. They said most threats were physical and so the game focused on that. The dude telling me about it claimed that people would finish the training but continue to play the game on their own. He said retention of skills and information went up with each repetition. It was interesting but I am somewhat skeptical on how much someone would play it. It looked a bit boring.
Re:Confused. Didn't they kill off ESP with flights (Score:2, Informative)
They *did*. I cleaned my office out January 23rd.
I have no idea what they think they're going to do with that license. My understanding is that it doesn't include access to the codebase (which is truly Byzantine code), so it's essentially like licensing somebody the graphics engine they used to make the CGI for the original TRON. Nobody's left anymore who can explain to them how it works or how to use it.
Those of us that were at ACES are just shaking our heads going "...huh?"