Training in the Metaverse Never Looked So Realistic

Many people who bought stocks betting on a massive shift toward full virtuality have lost capital. But one metaverse is growing by leaps and bounds while exciting soldiers, military planners, politicians, law enforcement and businesspeople with its possibilities.

Anybody looking at synthetic training programs would recognize elements from game consoles, arcade games or flight simulators; the crucial difference is that participants are learning skills that would otherwise be too expensive or risky to acquire.

“Project Tripoli will provide the Marine Corps with a virtual environment that embeds with live training in order for Marines to gain experience with emerging systems and capabilities across all domains,” said Capt. Phillip Parker, spokesperson, Training and Education Command, U.S. Marine Corps.

As the Marines work on integrating weapons systems and teaching how to coordinate actions—for example, helicopter pilots and infantry receiving artillery support, all interacting in the same virtual environment—the sector has dozens of companies competing to capture an expected 4.67% yearly growth rate to 2026, according to Technavio, a market research company.

The same report posits that around one-third of the additional $6.1 billion market growth to 2026 will be added by the U.S., mainly in flight simulators, while other forms of synthetic training will also see significant growth.

The conflict metaverse is alive around the planet. Battles are also being played in Asia, where a company has been at it for decades.

“We are making modularized software,” said Angela Park, marketing lead at Naviworks of Korea.

“We provide a 3D-modeling tool scenario editor, training executor and after-action review, and also, hardware parts; we can provide virtual reality or mixed reality, augmented reality and extended reality, according to the customers’ needs,” Park told SIGNAL Media in an interview.

Naviworks claims to be Korea’s defense forces’ main simulations supplier, with tools for its army, navy and air force. Their training scenarios can support up to 300 soldiers, according to a release by the company.

While all forms of virtual training are cheaper than mobilizing costly equipment and consuming live ammunition, there are situations where even this form of instruction is still too expensive, especially for local administrations. Full suites can pile up million-dollar bills and go beyond tight budgets.

One company found an opportunity with a no-frills product that provides critical features. For less than $20,000, a virtual firing range can be acquired with scenarios prepared for continuous training designed for law enforcement personnel, who operate under similar pressures as soldiers but under different conditions.

Digimation is a company that developed DART, a cheaper technology particularly suitable for police departments. It claims to help over 300 law enforcement organizations across the country with DART simulators, and the company is still surprised by how its clients use this equipment, to the point that training is part of daily activities.

“[Police officers] come in 15 minutes before a shift and come in again 15 minutes before they leave and go home,” said David Avgikos, founder and president of Digimation.

“What’s unique about DART is it comes with software to allow you to make your own [training] courses, so you can define everything between people and props and flat targets. You can lay out scenarios and training courses,” Avgikos said.

If practice makes perfect, a lot of practice certainly sets trainees up for success.

“If they have a problem shooter, they just put them right on there,” said Avgikos. He explained how two quarter-hour daily sessions adds to days of training every year, improving officer performance, and analyzing behaviors in almost-real scenarios.

This ties in with yearly qualifications to remain in the job. Providing little to no training can set up hurdles to staying in the force. “Now, nobody’s missing that,” Avgikos claimed.