VPH to be Used for Evaluating Physical and Psychological Performance

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions is to develop a Virtual Prototyping Holodeck (VPH) for the US Army, the company announced on 23 October. The service will use the holodeck to evaluate physical and psychological performance under simulated real-world conditions. The award was issued by the US Army Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) Center, Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (CERDEC NVESD) via the Sensors Communications and Electronics Consortium (SCEC) Other Transaction Agreement held by SOSSEC, Inc.

NVESD’s objective for the multi-million dollar contract is to better understand how soldiers react to the technology incorporated in the environment, which will use cross reality (XR) technologies to simulate actual equipment and battlefield conditions, as well as to evaluate its impact on their performance.

Holodecks are staging environments in which participants may engage with different virtual and real environments. Often used for training purposes, these technologies are also valuable for assessment and related applications similar to NVESD’s. The knowledge products that will result from this applied research will support NVESD’s future research and capabilities development to enhance soldier lethality.

“Utilizing our immersive simulation platform and XR technologies Kratos has developed simulation environments that can be deployed at the point of need (PoN), be that in holodecks, simulators or even real air and ground platforms. Moreover, the XR-based solutions reduce cost, speed development and provide greater ability to evaluate performance outcome,” commented Senior Vice President, Kratos Training Solutions Jose Diaz.