A few thoughts about the evolution of Simulation, Gaming and VR

My name is Yoram Bentzur, CEO of B-Design3D Ltd.  

I’ve been with the simulation and training industry for more than 30 years. During this period the industry has changed tremendously. I’ve entered it in the early 80’s after my tenure as a Jet fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force, and, in many ways, it was a natural transition for me.

The Past

The Simulation and training industry of these days was geared towards serving the air-forces, armored and naval forces of the world. It tried to recreate sensation of flying in the most realistic manner using the basic technologies that were available at the time. It did succeed to achieve that in a certain manner- the cockpit used was an exact replica, and was mounted on capable of generating life-like accelerations and movements. The visual component was, however, far inferior.

The computers of that era were not capable of generating high-resolution imagery and updating it fast enough to even resemble the real world. So simulators (be it for air, naval or armored vehicles training) were used for teaching the procedures of flight or practice emergency situations.

But as technology advanced, the visual element became more dominant in training and simulation. The improvements in processing power and more advanced software enabled to create accurate models of airports, terrain and even move enemy units. But the driving force behind these improvements now came from the commercial sector. Off-the-shelf equipment (i.e. moving from big Silicon Graphics machines to PCs) and software and the availability of affordable satellite imagery allowed nearly anyone to make his own training systems. Gaming manufacturers were not blind to this progress. Starting at the early 2000s, game manufacturers started to release more and more realistic simulation products for the home users and flight-enthusiasts.  Game consuls offered even the non-die-hard gamers the opportunity to drive fast cars, fly halos and command tanks in ever growing accuracy (and with all the accessories to make the experience more realistic, like joysticks, pedals and sticks and collective sets).  

While the traditional Training and Simulation industry looked at this development with some disdain – commercial platforms slowly penetrated the traditional simulation world and shook it with their ability to present large scale terrain areas combined with a high level of detail and the high level of flexibility they offered.

Present

At present, the lines between full-blown military style simulation and gaming is blurring with the introduction of "Serious Game Engines" and VR. A few game engines like VBS and Steel Beasts have entered lately  into the T&S market and were adopted as a significant training tool by major armies.

Virtual Reality has been around for several decades but only very recently it seems to start fulfilling its age old promise. With VR headsets costing as little as 500$ (http://www.pcmag.com/article/342537/the-best-virtual-reality-vr-headsets), enable a VR experience like never before. And of course, a host of applications are being developed to support these capabilities, from gaming to surgical training. It is certain that commercial equipment can now offer equal, if not better performance, than the one produced by the traditional simulation and defense industry. But does that mean that traditional defense/ HLS simulation is dying? On the contrary.

The availability and affordability of these technologies means that simulation is now accessible to anyone, and is expected to allow new and exciting applications and uses:

• Simulation for non-military forces: traditionally, simulation was too expensive for anyone but the military. But now that the hardware (and most 3rd party software) is cheap, it can be used by anyone, from training UPS delivery trucks drivers to training locomotive drivers and airport security inspectors.
• Greater connectivity- Bandwidth is also cheaper nowadays, meaning that units from all over can now train together regardless of physical location. This is common practice in the gaming industry and is starting to enter the military simulation world.
• More realistic simulation- More computing power, cheap storage, better graphic processing and very affordable raw materials (satellite imagery, GIS data, street footage) mean that simulation can be more accurate than ever. This opens new possibilities for training vehicle operators that require great level of detail for enhanced training like off-road vehicles and Helicopters.

The Future

I foresee the trend of convergence between commercial simulation, gaming and VR will only grow stronger. Together with rapidly evolving industries like railway and commercial flights which double their capacity and number of pilots/drivers each year, military simulation system developers will rely on open-source and off the shelf equipment and software, lowering the entry barrier and allowing smaller manufactures to enter this very conservative industry. But the real, most significant result of all these developments will be huge savings- in lives and field training hours and improved performance for nearly every job conceivable, from surgeons through crane operators to jet pilots.

Yoram Bentzur is the CEO of B-design 3D, a world leader in the creation of realistic 3D content for interactive training and simulation applications.