BISim, or Bohemia Interactive Simulations have been experimenting for some time with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) with the aim of enhancing training for military personnel. The company has now moved to a grander scale with the release of VBS Blue IG, a 3D whole-earth image generator for the military market.
The new simulation is the second major product released by the firm and combined videogame technology with its knowledge of the needs of its military customers to build a versatile training product.
VBS Blue IG is a 3D planetary simulation that is designed for a range of use cases covering land, sea and air. Capable of VR-based training applications, the product has already seen use as a flight and air crew trainer for the U.S. Navy and AR flight simulation. It is anticipated that in the future, the software will be used to visualise and rehearse complex joint military operations.
“The importance of VBS Blue IG to BISim and the wider simulation community should not be underestimated. The underlying technology, VBS Blue, is a highly advanced, scene generation technology which has been built to be incredibly flexible in ingesting any conceivable terrain data type and thus allowing hyper-fast terrain generation and access to all types of open source and proprietary existing data formats,” said Arthur Alexion, co-CEO of BISim.
BISim is also launching a new software development kit which will enable any aspect of VBS Blue IG to be customised to suit the needs at hand. As a modular structure is used, this allows third-party technologies to easily integrate into the software.
“We are really proud of our new family of products, which are designed to support our prime contractor customers. The combination of cutting-edge technology and in-house SDK mean that we can supply a really first-class technology experience to our 165 prime contractor customers around the world,” said BISim CTO Mark Dzulko.
Further news on military uses for VR and AR technology will continue to be reported here on VRFocus.