Professional pilots have been using flight simulators for years, especially military pilots, helping to keep combat skills in peak condition. Today Mass Virtual has announced it’ll be demonstrating its latest simulator using virtual reality (VR) technology at this weekends I/ITSEC simulation and training conference.
Mass Virtual specializes in creating VR simulations for the defence and security industries, and its created a project for the U.S. Navy called “Beyond Visual Range.” An air-to-air combat simulation, the company will be displaying the software for the first time at the conference in Orlando, Florida.
Built on Mass Virtual’s Virtual Attain platform and running on NVIDIA Quadro GPUs, the simulation puts pilots inside a detailed F-18 fighter jet cockpit. While flying over the ocean, pilots determine from the sounds and information coming across the cockpit radar and displays whether there is an aggressor aircraft in range. They select the appropriate missile for their range, lock it up and take it out.
“When you can achieve suspension of disbelief in a virtual environment, a user has much longer retention of what they’ve learned,” says John Brooks, CEO and founder of Mass Virtual. “The U.S. Navy tasked us with developing the most highly immersive, life-like environment that could also integrate with their current software systems.”
Mass Virtual will be showcasing the software using NVIDIA Quadro P6000 GPU in a single server, demonstrating how it can drive four simultaneous VR demos on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive head-mounted displays (HMDs).
“The level of visual realism and immersion we can achieve with NVIDIA Quadro GPUs enables better training of our military so that both they and our national security are safer,” said Brooks. “Military VR environments undergo class after class, year after year of student throughput in training programs. NVIDIA Quadro GPUs offer the reliability and stability the military requires.”
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