ARMET – Augmented Reality for Mobile Embedded Training

ITT AES has developed an augmented reality (AR) embedded training capability, in which computer-generated objects and avatars are visually superimposed on the trainee's view of the environment.  Virtual humans, representing friends, foes, and non-combatants, are seen to be occluded by walls and other solid objects in the real environment.  Particle effects are used to model phenomena such as explosions and smoke.  Because only the objects of interest are rendered, the AR embedded training capability greatly reduces the level of effort required to create multiple, diverse training scenarios when compared to completely immersive virtual reality (VR) systems for which the entire complex environment (e.g. buildings, vegetation, sky) must be realistically modeled and rendered.  AR embedded training systems also reduce motion sickness experienced in VR systems because the trainee mostly sees the real world.  Some features of the embedded training capability are:

• Cost reduction due to reduced resources needed for database creation

• View of the world eliminates motion sickness

• Explosion and smoke effects

• Humans with realistic behaviors

• Load any common 3D file format