STTC Awards ECS BAA Contract to Evaluate Use of Haptics

Engineering & Computer Simulations (ECS) has been awarded a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) technical project with the Simulation and Training Technology Center (STTC), a division of the Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) Army Research Laboratory’s (ARL) Human Research and Engineering (HRED) Directorate. The objective of this five-year program is to analyze, develop, and evaluate the use of haptics technologies in simulated immersive training environments.

Waymon Armstrong, ECS CEO/President says: “We are proud tocontinue our longstanding relationship with STTC which goes back almost 20years. The use of haptics technology in mixed reality environments directlyaddresses several challenges in the Department of Defense (DoD) medicaltraining. State-of-the-art training systems generally rely on physicalhardware, room size simulators, instrumented manikins, and other specializedprops to train users on physical objects. These systems are typically expensiveand require skilled operators and a high level of maintenance.”

The ECS team, led by Paul Cummings, Vice President ofInnovation and Technology and Shane Taber, Vice President of Operations,Orlando, will research recent advances in haptics, force feedback, tracking,and high-fidelity touch simulations to identify where particular technologiescan enhance learning, improve skill retention, and increase trainingeffectiveness.

The resulting research will be used to develop training usecases in virtual environments. The analysis will provide new information on thevalue of haptics and extended reality (XR) systems in medical and generalsynthetic training environments (STE). Topics include: haptics devicecomparison, STE Soldier/Squad Virtual Trainer (S/SVT) mixed reality (MR) “Holodeck”integration, virtual reality (VR)/augmented reality (AR) suit and biometricsintegration, STE collaborative MR scenario, new haptics surgical procedures,medical mannequin scenario, haptics for tactical evacuation (TACEVAC), highlyinfectious disease scenarios, and dental AR with haptics usability review andevaluation.

Cummings explains: “Significant opportunities exist tosupplement these trainers with AR-or MR-based immersive training experiencesthat can also incorporate tangible, physical touch, through props, haptics, ora combination of both. By supplementing the existing systems, the Army couldpotentially improve student throughput, better prepare learners for capstonetraining events, and reduce maintenance or replacement costs for larger systems.”

Taber adds: “We are looking forward to working with the U.S.Army STTC to provide medical teams with the tools they need to protect our soldiers.This type of work will advance our innovative, high-fidelity virtual realityand haptics integration by blending state-of-the-art hardware and softwaresolutions. It will also advance the body of research related to humanperformance and training effectiveness, combining multiple mixed reality andhaptics technology systems.”