LVC Training

Live, Virtual and Constructive (LVC) training merges advantages of realistic live training with flexible virtual training  into one coherent environment. The Veldt was created to be an immersive, rugged and reconfigurable training environment for the U.S. Army unmounted soldier.

The Veldt Environment (video)

The Veldt is a hybrid reality LVC training environment developed at Iowa State University for the unmounted warfighter and funded by the U.S. Army.  This system combines the advantages of a physical environment where trainees learn through physical navigation and natural reaction with the flexibility of virtual training through integrated displays within a physical scene, as shown in Image 1.

Image 1: The Veldt

L – Live forces, trainees physical interacting within their environment

V – Virtual forces, computer based training with trainees often interacting through a first person shooter interface

C – Constructive forces, computer controlled entities often refereed to as autonomous forces

In the physical space, Replica weapons, helmets and vests along with a reconfigurable set of walls outfitted with façades immerse the trainees in the Veldt environment. Trainees, weapons and props are tracked in real time by a uniquely configured infrared tracking system and visualized in multiple game engines in the virtual world. Live participants interact with the virtual world through displays within doors, windows and alleys. Virtual trainees interact through a first person shooter interface run by a commercial game engine which also controls the constructive or autonomous forces in a scenario.

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B. Pollock, E. Winer, S. Gilbert, J. de la Cruz, and H.J. Gonzalez, “LVC interaction within a mixed reality training system,” Proc. of The Engineering Reality of Virtual Reality, IS&T/SPIE Electronic Imaging, 2012.