Gaming technologies improve Soldier readiness: "The U.S. Army is implementing the latest in computer simulation and gaming technology to train soldiers in counter-insurgency, detecting roadside bombs and treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Computer simulations of Baghdad neighborhoods, bomb-making facilities insurgent ambushes and IED attacks are conditioning soldiers for combat. The games -- developed through a partnership between the Army and the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT) -- involve a unique blend of story-telling, creativity and cutting-edge computer technology designed to realistically portray complex, fast-changing scenarios.
The partnership is one of the Army's University Affiliated Research Centers where research and development dollars are invested to advance technology for the armed forces. 'We are sponsored by the Army to be a crossroads between academic research in the areas of virtual reality, graphics, virtual humans, mixed reality, and intelligent tutoring. We provide that academic expertise and it is a crossroads between that and the entertainment industry. It is leveraging the technologies to create applications that are more engaging and more effective as training tools than what has been seen before,' said Randall Hill, executive director, USC ICT.
Gaming technologies from USC ICT have been used in major Hollywood films. For the past ten years USC ICT's graphics lab has been developing technologies to realistic represent the subject in a digital format, Hill said.
Urban Sim
Urban Sim is the main counter-insurgency training game. It places soldiers in portions of Baghdad and confronts them with dynamic, interconnected combat-zone circumstances"
