The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) have initiated a major Reconstitution effort to strengthen capabilities needed to ensure operational relevance in the current and evolving security environment. As part of this, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) is undertaking a major training system modernization. This transformation looks to leverage emerging training technologies to support more flexible, individualized and streamlined training for its personnel.

In order to support the RCAF’s training modernization, the RCAF Aerospace Warfare Centre (AWC) is seeking to develop evidence-based procedures for the adoption, application and maintenance of the RCAF’s modeling & simulation (M&S) capabilities. In addition, Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), as part of its research program on Training for the Future Operational Environment (TFOE), is investigating how to improve the adoption of training technologies in the CAF. DRDC’s investigations have identified a number of organizational and human factors that impede effective training technology use. One of those factors is a general lack of evidence on the effectiveness and usability of emerging training technologies, consistent with the RCAF AWC’s experiences in this area.

Accordingly, the RCAF AWC and DRDC are partnering to conduct experimental studies examining M&S technologies key to the RCAF AWC’s capability for conducting distributed joint and coalition collective training. The first study, reported here, examines the suitability of different visualization technologies in the context of distributed collective training. The study compares the effects on performance (e.g., track integrity), workload and usability of three different visualization configurations (conventional monitor, curved wide-angle monitor, mixed-reality headset) in simulated air patrol tasks by experienced fast jet pilots. The findings of this study and their implications on visualization technology use are discussed in the context of the RCAF AWC’s efforts to modernize its distributed coalition training capability and DRDC’s activities on supporting training technology adoption in CAF.