MetaVR News Volume X, Issue 1 December 7, 2006 http://www.metavr.com/ MetaVR creates 3D real-time PC-based visual systems that provide the fidelity of geographically specific simulation with game quality graphics and performance. In This Issue: 19.A - MetaVR Announces VRSG (Virtual Reality Scene Generator) Version 5 19.B - MetaVR Visual Systems Used in National Guard Training 19.C - Navy's Use of MetaVR software for Littoral and Underwater Simulation 19.D - Zedasoft Chooses MetaVR VRSG for Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB 19.E - MetaVR Visuals Used in Northrop Grumman Aerial Refueling Operator 19.F - MetaVR Announces 3D Layering Control Plugin for ESRI ArcMap 19.G - MetaVR Delivers Additional Licenses to L-3 for the AVCATT Program 19.H - MetaVR at IITSEC 2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19.A MetaVR Announces Virtual Reality Scene Generator (VRSG) Version 5 MetaVR has delivered over 145 upgrades and 230 new licenses of its core 3D visualization product, VRSG version 5, since shipments of the new release began in Q3 of 2006. MetaVR's new release contains the following new features, enhancements, and 3D content: * Built-in support for dynamic 3D character entities. This feature is supplemented by a new library of over 125 unique character models and 25 weapon models. VRSG can support thousands of active human characters with hundreds being displayed in the immediate field-of-view. * Enhancements to support simulation in the geographic shore line (littoral) region to include the sea floor, water, and coast line: wave animation, sky model reflection, realistic underwater visibility, and sea floor terrain compiled with bathymetric data. * Dynamic shadows for ground vehicles characters and cultural features. * Updated entity model library to include normal maps, which greatly increases the visual quality of a significant number of the VRSG military vehicle models. * Real time MPEG encoding, direct digital video stream recording from frame buffer to MPEG in VRSG 5.2 (no extra hardware or intermediate analog conversions required). * New sky models representing a variety of time-of-day and weather conditions. * The full MetaVR 3D content libraries of vehicles, cultural features, and aforementioned characters supplemented with new 3D models to include additional vehicles, human characters, weapons, animals, and cultural features (such as buildings, trees, signage, and street elements). You can rapidly build up a database's 3D content directly in VRSG by placing models directly on the terrain in the VRSG visualization window. * Inclusion of the following terrain databases: - Baghdad, Iraq with Green Zone - Ft. Wainwright urban training site - Ft. Lewis with Leschi Town MOUT site - Ft. Irwin (NTC) with Bicycle Lake and Tiefort City urban training site - Ft. Campbell with Cassidy MOUT site - Ft. Benning with McKenna MOUT site All of these standard MetaVR terrain databases have been enhanced for version 5 and will be on display at this year's I/ITSEC trade show, demonstrating 3D animated characters in various training scenarios (see 19.H). The MetaVR website now has media clips of real-time recordings of scenarios rendered in MetaVR VRSG. The scenarios feature 3D databases built by MetaVR and entities from MetaVR's 3D content libraries. The media clips were made with VRSG's new real-time MPEG encoding capability that records MPEG video of VRSG-generated scenes at 30 frames-per-second (640x480 pixel resolution). http://www.metavr.com/products/vrsg/vrsgnew5.html http://www.metavr.com/products/vrsg/vrsg-characteranimation.html http://www.metavr.com/products/3Dcontent/metavr3Dcontent-characters-civ1.html http://www.metavr.com/products/vrsg/vrsgdemos.html http://www.metavr.com/products/vrsg/vrsgoverview.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19.B MetaVR Visual Systems Used in the XCTC Program In August 2006, MetaVR delivered 17 VRSG licenses to SRI International for the eXportable Combat Training Capability (XCTC) program. This sale brings the total number of VRSG units purchased for the XCTC training program to 22. The XCTC program is a National Guard Bureau initiative for creating and delivering a transportable combat training capability for battalion-level combat-readiness. Training is provided to the National Guard units at their home station locations instead of requiring the units to travel to the National Training Center or Joint Readiness Training Center. SRI International is a founding member and sole provider of instrumentation and communications support for the XCTC. In the field, Army trainers used the software to monitor instrumented troop movements during a training exercise at an urban training site. Instead of requiring video cameras to be located at a large number of discrete locations, a commander can monitor all the troop movements with the scope of an infinite number of video cameras independent of light conditions, fog, or dust using the MetaVR 3D visualization capability. With 3D virtual terrain of the actual training facility rendered in VRSG, the instrumented soldiers appear in the virtual world identical to where they are in the real world. In July, more than 750 Indiana National Guard and Army soldiers participated in XCTC06, a three-week Train-As-We-Fight exercise held at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center and at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center. Training scenarios were evaluated during the exercise by using the MetaVR software to display the geospecific terrain with live instrumented soldiers supplemented with video shot in the field to create the After Action Review (AAR). VRSG's 3D simulation of the exercise, coupled with the video, enabled trainees and instructors to review the exercise to gain insight into the mission's execution. http://www.metavr.com/casestudies/xctc.html http://www.sri.com/ http://www.campatterbury.org/xctc.htm http://www.jtepforguard.com/ http://www.ngb.army.mil/news/archives/072806-export_training.aspx -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19.C Navy's Use of VRSG for Littoral and Underwater Simulation The latest release of MetaVR VRSG contains features that support simulation in the geographic shore line region (littoral) to include the sea floor, water, and coast line. Version 5 features include wave animation, sky model reflection, realistic underwater visibility, and sea floor terrain compiled with bathymetric data. In the field, VRSG is currently being used by the Navy in submarine and undersea warfare systems. Initial proof-of-concept work modeled the Narragansett Bay and NUWC test range to provide a visualization solution for live platform and sensor monitoring in the test range, and to offer a virtual environment for modeling and simulation applications. Upcoming plans include use of MetaVR VRSG within the Navy's undersea modeling and simulation framework in a variety of Distributed Network System scenarios. The visualization component provides greater insight into the scenarios and includes support for a variety of future platform concepts such as acoustic sensors, unmanned vehicles, and weapons. http://www.metavr.com/casestudies/littoralsimulation.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19.D Zedasoft Chooses MetaVR VRSG for Test Pilot School (TPS) at Edwards AFB ZedaSoft, Inc. has been awarded a contract to develop a simulator system at the USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB to teach current and advanced avionics concepts to its students. The delivered simulator will include a 4-channel MetaVR image generator system for the out-the-window-view, and a MetaVR sensor channel for radar ground map and EO sensor simulation. This simulator will take advantage of a new sensor generation capability now available in MetaVR's VRSG version 5 software. The system specifically includes the use of radar ground map and targeting pod infrared imagery simulation to prepare the TPS students for flying the next generation of USAF fighter aircraft. http://www.metavr.com/products/vrsg/vrsgoverview.html http://www.zedasoft.com http://www.asdnetwork.com/press_detail/9779/ ZedaSoft_announces_Award_of_Simulator_contract_from_the_USAF.htm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19.E MetaVR Visuals Used in Northrop Grumman Aerial Refueling Operator Simulator As announced on September 7, 2005, Northrop Grumman Corporation has teamed with EADS to compete for the U.S. Air Force's next-generation air refueling tanker, to replace the existing KC-135 Stratotanker. In support of their KC-30 Advanced Multi-role Tanker Transport (AMTT) proposal, Northrop Grumman has built an Aerial Refueling Operator (ARO) simulator to use as an advanced-concept demonstrator. Using MetaVR VRSG as its 3D visualization system, the advanced-concept demonstrator has traveled to the 2005 Airlift/Tanker Association (A/TA) in Nashville, Kentucky, and to the 2006 Air Force Association (AFA) Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida. The simulator is used to promote discussion and evaluation of future refueling concepts, and to provide an interactive refueling simulation experience. Off-the-shelf functionality available in MetaVR's VRSG software enabled the simulator portion of the demonstrator to be constructed in a short period of time. VRSG uses Microsoft's DirectX-based software to implement a true 3D stereoscopic display without additional software development. The simulation flies over MetaVR's Metadesic geocentric North America 3D terrain. The software simulates both the AMTT's flying boom operations and hose and drogue refueling operations, including features such as Air Refueling (AR) flight patterns, collision modeling, and refueling contact modeling. This version of the ARO simulator models fifteen boom receivers and ten drogue receivers. http://www.metavr.com/casestudies/ng-aro_sim.html http://www.metavr.com/technology/aerialrefueling.html http://www.metavr.com/products/vrsg/vrsgoverview.html http://www.northropgrumman.com/kc30/operations/section.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19.F MetaVR Announces 3D Layering Control Plugin for ESRI ArcMap MetaVR recently developed and delivered a new Geographic Information Systems (GIS) 3D visualization product built upon the industry standard ESRI ArcGIS product line. MetaVR's 3D Layering Control Plugin for ESRI ArcMap is an interface to MetaVR's VRSG terrain databases that enables you to dynamically visualize in layers the various linear and point features that make up the virtual world. Visualizing elements within layers enables users to change the transparency of various cultural elements. This feature is useful for applications such as after-action and during-action review of people instrumented with location registering equipment. In the case of training at Ft. Benning, Georgia, real soldiers can be visualized within the general area, inside buildings, or in the surrounding habitat by using mapped, location- based data from the active real-life participants. Changing the transparency of outer walls of structures in the virtual world enables users to visualize more easily what is taking place inside a building from a more abstract level. MetaVR recently enhanced its Ft. Benning urban warfare training database to include hybrid photo-realistic, photo-specific textures for all the primary building structures. Additional cultural feature build-out has resulted in what we to believe to be the highest fidelity virtual Ft. Benning, McKenna database in the industry. This database will be on display in MetaVR's booth at the I/ITSEC 2006 trade show (see 19.H). Using a "one-to-many" architecture between the ArcGIS workstation and the VRSG channels, a single instance of the plugin installed on a networked machine can control the visibility of elements in all VRSG channels on the network. The plugin sends out packets on the DIS network, which means that one instance of the plugin can control as many VRSG channels as are participating in a given DIS-powered exercise. The GIS software and the plugin do not need to be installed on the machine that is running VRSG. The plugin was recently delivered to SRI (see 19.A) to be used for National Guard Bureau training exercises. The MetaVR 3D Layering Control Plugin for ESRI ArcMap requires any license level of ArcGIS version 9 (ArcView, ArcEditor, or ArcInfo) and VRSG version 5. http://www.metavr.com/products/arcmap_layercontrol_plugin.html http://www.metavr.com/technology/ftbenning.html http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19.G MetaVR Delivers Additional Licenses to L-3 for the AVCATT Program In August 2006, L-3 Communications purchased 8 new VRSG channels for the AVCATT-A program. This recent sale brings the total of VRSG units purchased for the AVCATT training program between 2001 and 2006 to 41. In early 2000, L-3 Communications' Link Simulation and Training contacted MetaVR to procure an evaluation unit as a potential candidate for providing the 3D visuals for the AVCATT simulator exercise during and after action review real-time visual system. During the year-long evaluation, MetaVR added requested features to its VRSG product to fulfill the required AVCATT functionality at no additional cost. These collaborative efforts resulted in MetaVR's PC-based image generator being chosen for the AVCATT- A production simulators as the Battle Master Control and After Action Review theater visual systems. The MetaVR visual systems are literally embedded training devices within a training device. An AVCATT suite is a mobile truck-mounted system comprised of reconfigurable simulators, a battle master control room, and an after-action-review theater. Networked MetaVR Economy Ruggedized Rackmount VRSG PCs provide the 3D visual depiction of both the live AVCATT training scenario for the Battle Master Control and for the After Action Review (AAR) theater. As an after-action review system, the AVCATT-recorded network simulation traffic is played back and visualized on the MetaVR system in a small theater. Terrain database correlation across simulators is established as the MetaVR system uses L3-developed terrain that has been converted to MetaVR database format. All MetaVR systems used for the AVCATT training device are currently delivered with the AVCATT P2 (National Training Center); P3 (Hoenfels); P5 (Ft. Hood); Iraq, Korea, and Afghanistan terrain databases. http://www.metavr.com/casestudies/avcatt.html http://www.l-3com.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19.H MetaVR at I/ITSEC 2006 MetaVR will exhibit its products at the annual I/ITSEC trade show in Booth #1331. The Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference and Trade Show will be held December 4-7, 2006, at the Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FL, USA. All of MetaVR's real-time software demonstrations that will be on display at this year's trade show are also available as downloadable videos. http://www.metavr.com/iitsec2006.html http://www.metavr.com/products/vrsg/vrsgdemos.html http://www.iitsec.org/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This electronic newsletter may be redistributed without restriction in any format as long as the contents are unaltered. Previous issues of MetaVR News can be found at http://www.metavr.com/aboutus/newsarchive.html. Copyright 2006, MetaVR, Inc. MetaVR, Inc. 80 Somerset Road Brookline, MA 02445 USA MetaVR News is comprised of over 14,000 e-mail addresses collected from company correspondence and public forums comprised of those who have interest in visual simulation. To subscribe to MetaVR News, send email to news_request@metavr.com. To unsubscribe from MetaVR News, send email to no_news@metavr.com. 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