The use of simulation technologies in Warfighter training will need to increase as resource constraints tighten on the US military. Multiple studies have shown that simulation-based training promotes faster skills acquisition and assessment at greatly reduced cost and time. However, as these technologies become more pervasive, in a wider variety of training tasks, integrating them into a cohesive environment is increasingly complex.

Industries such as medical and construction use single purpose trainers to teach welding or suturing, but Warfighter training requires multiple systems, with unique capabilities, to interoperate. For example, it may be necessary for a ground-based Soldier trainer to be connected to fighter and tank trainers to adequately prepare for actual missions. The setup, running, debugging, and maintenance of these systems is a very difficult task that can use up resource savings achieved through simulation. As each training system is composed of multiple components (e.g., projectors, computers, and motion trackers), it is imperative to understand items such as: 1) input parameter initialization (e.g., scenario, number of Soldiers, etc.), 2) the real-time status of individual systems, 3) data flow and timing between systems, and 4) software and hardware malfunctions.

In this paper, the Mixed Reality Toolbox (MRT), developed to perform these operations, is presented. A review of current research and products available to the training community will be presented. In addition, the issues involved with combining physical, mixed-reality, and virtual reality environments into a single training system will be discussed. Lastly, results will be presented showing the effectiveness of the MRT when used to run two simulated training exercises with systems comprised of five to fifteen different technology and/or real components. In both exercises, the MRT allowed a significant reduction in system setup and runtime compared to comparable setups done previously.

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Anthony Civitate