U.S. Joint Forces Command has completed the first tests of a virtual reality training system for infantry squads. The Future Immersive Training Environment (FITE) is testing two approaches to squad-based training. One is virtual reality gear worn by individual soldiers, and the other is a training facility loaded with animatronics, audio and visual effects, and avatars in what one researcher likened to the “Pirates of the Caribbean” theme park ride.

Phase 1 of FITE, which is the individually worn virtual reality gear, has been completed after a culminating demonstration at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and Fort Benning, Ga., in March. The system equipped each user with a helmet-mounted display, a weapon, a backpack computer and wireless communications links. Imagery from the VBS2 constructive simulation was projected on to the helmet display, and users moved around the virtual world by manipulating a button on their weapons. To add realism, a device carried in the user’s pocket delivered a small shock when he was (virtually) hit. The system can be used in any training space.

Phase 2, which is scheduled for the end of this year, will test a facilities-based approach. An empty building will be outfitted with a range of special-effects gear, including live role players, lots of audio and visual effects, and even animatronics (mechanized puppets).

“We’re looking at animatronics to see if they can take the place of role players to some degree,” FITE technical manager Clarke Lethin said.

Lethin said the project fills a neglected niche for infantry squad training.

“We don’t provide a very focused training environment for the infantry squad — Marine Corps or Army — like we do for other elements. If you look at what we do for pilots, ship drivers and vehicle drivers, we use virtual simulations to go through some of the basic skill sets before they actually go out there,” he said. “The services have invested a lot of money in role players at facilities, but they’re focused on battalion- and brigade-level training.”

FITE researchers said they went to great lengths to objectively evaluate the project’s training value. For example, they measured stress by monitoring users’ heartbeats, FITE operations manager Jay Reist said. The project also relied on input from cognitive psychologists and human behaviorists.

FITE is a two-year joint capability technology demonstration that will end after Phase 2 and the delivery of a final evaluation report. Researchers said the feedback so far from the Army and Marine Corps has been positive.

“In each case, because of the generation that these young men come from, they adapt very quickly to this technology,” Reist said. “They understand it. They are very comfortable using it not as a game, but as a training system.”