Charles River Analytics has launched a new extended reality system that provides a haptics-integrated environment where U.S. Army soldiers could train on taking care of casualties while on a live battlefield.
The Haptics Ontology and Peripheral Layer for Integrative Training Environments (HOPLITE) tool works with 3D touch systems that allow soldiers to virtually train care under fire scenarios without leaving their classrooms, Charles River said Thursday.
The company teamed up with the Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center and retired combat medics to translate the real world nuances involved in tactical combat casualty care into HOPLITE, presenting an alternative to expensive live-action training events the service branch currently holds.
“It’s simple on paper—return fire, get cover, stop life-threatening external hemorrhages—but incredibly complex and situation-dependent in practice,” explained James Niehaus, Charles River’s principal investigator on HOPLITE.
The tool was built using the company’s Virtuoso open-source kit for developing XR software.