Replies to post #34371 on VirTra Inc (VTSI)

[End Game]

I think it's a great product for night vision training. But...for daylight close encounters I believe Virtra's wins hands down. You can have exact gear on as in the real world and movement is the same except limited space with virtra's 300 physical limits.

[VirTraWatch]

ID uses real time polygonal mapped environments and cannot achieve a level of realism beyond the most current real time game engine technology. Facial expressions and body language kinematics are a critical component of threat assessment in CQB encounters. Consider that if Hollywood cannot create an indistinguishable from real CG person utilizing months of pre-rendered model work then any modern real time engine has no hope of achieving such a critical goal.

PEO STRI has made it publicly clear they are looking for a system that exceeds VBS2 and is yet backwards compatible with the currently fielded VBS2 simulators. A difficult combination if you understand both the depth and limitations of the VBS2 platform. However due to the real time nature of the ID platform, ID is well suited for a transition to VBS2 legacy and new technology.

VirTra's greatest strength is the use of actors and real environments to achieve the subtle person to person cues troops need to assess a situation. “Real on real”, IMO, generates a heightened sense of environmental awareness and stresses required for effective simulation that a RT Engine cannot. Its drawback is its fixed footprint and inability to allow users to “look or walk around” objects. The footprint issue can be solved. Two dimensional video however is still two dimensional video projected on a screen. As VBS2 backwards compatibility is a requirement of the now months old EST-II RFP then VirTra would either have to switch over to a RT Engine or figure out a way to integrate the VirTra 300 into both a VBS2 legacy world and whatever future platform is accepted by PEO STRI as a video based simulator adjunct component.

I suspect normal troop encumbrance may be had with the ID platform. That’s just one photo and that pack can be stacked on an alice pack. Normal encumbrance in a VirTra simulator is easy but there is limited floor space available. For instance, a fire team usually requires 4 or 5 troops at a 5M dispersal for obvious tactical reasons. There are ways around this current limitation as well. ID movement by joystick, again IMO, takes one out of the immersive of the simulation; however I did watch a demo by another company that does not use joystick but rather tracking cameras and position sensors.