After great developments in other industries like entertainment, education and medical, Virtual reality (VR) has been adopted by militaries. It is especially used for training soldiers for combat conditions or other dangerous situations where they have to react in a proper manner. They can also develop a complete combat environment and with VR they can experience it without real world risks. This technique has proven more safe and less expensive than traditional training methods. Militaries are using virtual reality in following cases:
Advance simulation
Soldiers can experience all types of vehicles and jets in a very enveloping and realistic way using VR technology. Military VR simulators are designed in such a way that soldiers can feel vehicles from every aspect. Soldiers can experience uneven grounds, rocks, mud and every type of weather with VR technology. VR simulators enable pilots to practice and train without sending air jets into the air. Which significantly lowers the cost and reduces the risks of deaths and damage. There won’t be need of open grounds, big heavy vehicles and expensive jets, anything can be modeled down to smallest detail with Advanced Military VR simulators.
VR experience in boot camp
As young energetic under training soldiers grew up playing video games, militaries have also adopted gaming practice to train their soldiers. VR developers have developed such advanced games for soldiers that they can experience real life battlefields in virtual reality. Soldiers use all kinds of VR software and devices including motion trackers, cave systems and realistic equipment like guns and vests. It is neither an easy nor inexpensive process to set-up a whole virtual environment but it has proven to be much safer and comparatively less expensive than traditional training. However, it would be more perfect to combine virtual reality with real life training practices because nobody in the military appraises virtual reality as a complete replacement.
Medical training
It is practically not possible to train medical staff in war-like conditions. But with virtual reality, militaries can recreate scenarios close to combat and battlefield to simulate life saving operations. A team of scientists in the UK has developed such a VR simulator that is an expandable environment which recreates the interior body of a Chinook helicopter. Then, a trainee is sent inside of it with an artificial body on the floor and VR headset. This all set-up enables military medical trainees to work in war-like environments including helicopter sound and gunshots. VR technology enables medical professionals to learn, practice and retain their skills inside and outside of battlefields and helps in basic surgical tasks as well.
Virtual battleground
Real-life military training involves risk of injuries and sometimes death as there are many dangerous activities like parachute jumping and other artillery exercises. But with VR technology, soldiers can be sent into any risk-free environment. Militaries are using VR headsets totally stand alone and require no physical connections to any other devices. So that, trainees can move freely and experience the real life battlefield. Moreover, networks or wireless connections are not required in this technique as their content can be stored locally on devices enable them to be used in any location.
The Future
Future of VR and AR in the military seems very significant. As they are trying to make everything possible which was not even imaginable a few years ago. Military VR scientists will definitely make resolutions and graphical fidelity much better. They will combine virtual reality with other innovations to make this technology more versatile.
Sources :
https://www.bbntimes.com/technology/how-virtual-reality-is-transforming-military-training
https://jasoren.com/vr-military-training-the-next-step-of-combat-evolution/