As technology advances, Defense is constantly changing. Armed forces must be abreast of the latest developments in the military and continuously seek new ways to outmaneuver their adversaries.
The way soldiers obtain information and carry out missions will be transformed entirely by tactical augmented reality devices. The potential applications of augmented reality in the military will only increase due to the data and graphics processing revolution.
Among the first to recognize the potential of augmented reality (AR) were the world's militaries. Let's first define augmented reality (AR) before discussing its military application.
Defining Augmented Reality
The term "augmented reality," or "AR," refers to the practice of superimposing computer-generated content in the real world.
As such, it combines computer-generated visuals with reality. Augmented reality has been a technology for a very long time-roughly forty years. However, Industry 4.0 and recent developments in augmented reality software, such as PTC Vuforia Studio, have ushered in a period of phenomenal growth for the industries that use it.
Although the military was the first to effectively employ AR, other sectors, including manufacturing, healthcare, and education, have also used it.
It's critical to understand that, despite their similar names, augmented and virtual reality are quite different technologies.
While virtual reality (VR) is a fully immersive experience that isolates the user from the outside world, augmented reality (AR) blends reality and simulation.
Use Of AR In Military/Defense
Today's military extensively employs AR and VR. In this piece, we'll concentrate on AR's application in the defense industry.
AR is used in the military for two purposes: first, to train soldiers, and second, to facilitate effective maintenance of vehicles, aircraft, gadgets, and equipment.
AR For Defense Training
Military education is the foundation of defense. It is only possible to deploy soldiers into actual combat with proper training.
Training soldiers was the earliest and most notable application of AR in the defense industry. The soldiers' field of vision can be directly filled with blueprints, satellite views, or drone audio thanks to augmented reality-enabled gadgets like head-mounted displays.
Thanks to this, they may then conduct surveillance on an enemy stronghold. Such headgear is already being supplied by defense firms to forces across the globe, from the United States of America to India.
AR For Drones
A drone is a small, uncrewed aerial vehicle or aircraft. Without an onboard human pilot, it is piloted remotely.
Drones have been handy tools for military operations in recent years. Drone technology can potentially be a valuable tool for military surveillance, providing real-time data with the correct augmented reality software, such as Vuforia Studio.
Drones with augmented reality capabilities can recognize items and build complex systems for tracking people, things, and military vehicles. Like street names and lines on a Google satellite map, military drone data streams might flag suspected enemy movement by superimposing extra images, text, or markers over them.
AR For Pilots
A significant component of Defense training is training pilots. Military aircraft can cost millions of rupees each, making them expensive.
Before allowing a pilot to operate a plane, they must also receive safe-environment training. Pilot training benefits significantly from the use of both AR and VR. Pilots can see navigation systems, interact with air traffic control, experience weather, and even comprehend challenging terrain by using augmented reality-assisted 3D overlay.
Augmented reality is essential for educating pilots in two critical tasks: takeoffs and landings. It is also helpful for training crew members who perform ground maintenance on aircraft. Thus, AR technology has the potential to significantly reduce the cost of pilot training and aviation maintenance for the Indian (and other) defense industries.
A further domain where AR and VR technology benefit pilot training involves intricate tasks like mid-air refueling and formation flying.
Both jobs are challenging in real life if you have not had simulated training beforehand. Pilots can receive improved maneuver training to enhance their operability and efficiency, all while softening and virtualizing reality.
Software increases its efficiency and operability.
AR For The Navy
The world's navigators have specific special needs, and augmented reality technology will make things easier for them.
For instance, a bridge officer's job is to monitor the ship's course and ensure its safety. To confirm what they can physically see, these officers typically radiograph the operations room to obtain the required information.
This system could be more effective, though. Bridge Officers may receive the information they need without having to make a phone call in real-time thanks to augmented reality-assisted devices, which lessens their burden and improves ship safety.
Navy personnel would also be able to combine data from sensors, such as radars and sonar, with real-world images using eyewear that supports augmented reality. Deck gunnery teams are another possible user group.
Also Read: The Future Of AR/VR: Challenges & Opportunities? $Trillions Await!
Applications Of AR/VR In Military Training
The military and defense industries were among the first to adopt AR and VR technology and use it as a strategic tool for military training.
Situational And Immersive Boot Camp Experiences
A digital training environment for Situational Awareness and Experience can be established through Multisensory VR experiences.
Soldiers are exposed to harsh surroundings, tough terrain, and activities through multi-sensory virtual reality experiences that provide locational and combative context and equip them for any warlike scenario.
The Benefit: AR and VR in military boot camp training simulate activities in dangerous environments such as interior jungles, snow-covered mountains, rivers, seas, deserts, and even space.
They impart vital qualities to warriors, such as adaptation, survival, and collaboration.
Developing Strategies For Tactical Missions
VR can help people hone their strategic and life-saving decision-making abilities in conflict areas. Networks for multi-user combat systems are essential to a mission's success.
AR and VR mimic similar circumstances in a virtual setting, allowing military leaders to hone their strategic thinking and real-time collaboration abilities during crucial missions.
The Benefit: Encourages the development of leadership qualities, cooperation, teamwork, and the capacity for mindful execution.
Vehicle And Flight Simulations
Virtual reality (VR) can improve driving and navigational skills by providing tactile experiences.
Virtual reality has the potential to significantly improve soldiers' driving, flying, and navigational skills by enabling them to train in the control of fighter planes, submarines, and ground vehicles without ever getting into one.
Training with VR even allows for sensory experiences. Trainees can experience the disorientation of parachuting from an aircraft or even the confined space of an armored vehicle.
Pilots can feel and touch switches and buttons in the cockpit thanks to BE-enabled touch sensitivity.
The Benefit: The cutting-edge immersive training module exposes students to real-world situations to improve their driving and navigational skills.
Medical Applications In Military Training
During training, medics are placed in conflict zones. The conventional setup did not train medics in field situations.
However, doctors can be deployed into combat zones using virtual reality, allowing them to refine and expand their skills in dangerous settings. Virtual reality has the potential to heal PTSD in veterans and anxiety symptoms in recruits.
The Benefit: Trainee medics can acquire a certain level of proficiency and understanding of field-like circumstances, preparing them for combat.
Virtual reality (VR) may provide a unique, authentic experience at a lower cost while teaching important lessons like survival skills, crucial mission techniques, and teamwork.
What Are Vr's Main Advantages For The Defense And Military Sectors?
Natural Motions And Gestures With The Majority of AR/VR Devices
Virtual reality technology enables natural behaviors in a virtual environment when fully submerged in your 3D data.
Whether you utilize projection-based VR technology or a stand-alone helmet-mounted display (HMD), mobility is effortless. The degree of immersion will be the sole distinction. Compared to a PowerWall or a CAVE system, your recruits will have a completely immersive experience with all-in-one or tethered virtual reality headsets.
Training gaps can be minimized significantly by having the opportunity to practice in real-world scenarios.
Utilize All-In-One VR Headsets To Train In Any Circumstance, At Any Time, and anywhere.
When trainees use an all-in-one VR headset like the Microsoft Hololens 2, HTC VIVE Focus, or Meta Quest 2, they can travel freely in a fully customizable space.
This headset turns any place into an intense training area, revolutionizing the way you prepare your guys.
Lifelike Instruction Without The Dangers
With feel-real weapons and vehicles, virtual reality training enables soldiers to practice in real-world scenarios without hazards.
Any piece of equipment can be built on a virtual platform in a simulation. For a more organic training experience for the trainees, you can also incorporate tracking devices with haptic feedback.
Soldiers can learn how to respond in high-risk situations that could be too risky or costly in real life by simulating them without risk, such as parachute training.
VR Simulations That Are Adaptable And Scalable
You can design a fully adaptable virtual reality simulation based on your needs and the trainees' responses.
Different results from the same VR scenario can help participants adjust to any given situation. Because it will take less time to adjust to the real circumstances in the real world, trainees can concentrate on the learning objectives.
Thorough 3D Reviews From Several Angles
Depending on your hardware and 3D model, you can record your VR sessions from various angles. This is crucial, for instance, if you want to acquire individualized feedback for your trainers or get information on how to enhance the model of a three-dimensional car with actual users.
Lower Training And Engineering Expenses
Physical prototypes are not as necessary as virtual reality. Design and engineering will significantly benefit from this since they won't need to ship as many physical models back and forth and can instead collaborate in the same VR environment.
Virtual and augmented reality training sessions provide individual and group instruction opportunities, even for situations that are too costly or risky to do in a traditional training setting.
Conclusion
Virtual and augmented reality have many innovative, cutting-edge, and constantly growing uses in military training.
These technologies are changing how the armed services train for the demands of contemporary warfare, from enhanced medical training to realistic combat situations. Future military training will surely reach new heights with the integration of AI and the creation of wearable AR technologies, guaranteeing that our armed forces stay flexible, adaptive, and prepared to take on any danger.
The use of VR and AR in military training is now commonplace, and its influence will only increase in the years to come.
