MetaVR VRSG Provides Visuals in Prototype JTAC Virtual Trainer Dome

In 2007, 33 MetaVR VRSG licenses were purchased to support the Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) Virtual Trainer Dome simulator at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and the Deployable JTAC Virtual Trainer Dome, which was on display at I/ITSEC 2007. The Deployable JTAC Virtual Trainer Dome was also demonstrated at the AFA 2007 Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition in Washington D.C. The Air Force’s Joint Air Ground Operations School at Nellis AFB is the primary training facility for the USAF JTACs.

	JTAC virtual dome trainer prototype using MetaVR's visualization software. Image courtesy of Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), Mesa Research Lab.

These 33 MetaVR VRSG licenses supplement 21 existing VRSG licenses already in use in the JTAC Virtual Trainer Dome prototype at the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) in Mesa, AZ. To date, 54 licenses have been purchased for the JTAC simulators. The JTAC simulators are fully interoperable with the A-10 Full Mission Trainers and the Multiple Unified Simulation Environment (MUSE)/Air Force Synthetic Environment For Reconnaissance And Surveillance (AFSERS) program, which also use MetaVR real-time 3D visualization software.

	VRSG rendering of an A-10 entity flying over MetaVR's virtual Baghdad; inset shows First Person Simulator in JTAC mode providing close air support for the A-10.

A critical and lethal personnel position in the armed forces is that of the Joint Terminal Attack Controller, or JTAC. This individual is the link between the Army and the Air Force when combat requires the aid of close air support. A JTAC must maintain situational awareness, know the supported unit's plans, and validate and prosecute targets of opportunity.

Training JTACs requires equipping them with the skill sets associated with air strike control, which includes in-depth knowledge of the capabilities and limitations of air power and advising the maneuver commander how best to employ it. In addition, the JTAC must determine which actions to take to properly control the ensuing air operations and how best to maximize the support, which type of weapons to use, and where to direct the strike. Anticipating which type of aircraft should be used, and how best to use each one, is crucial.

The Joint Terminal Controller Training and Rehearsal System (JTC TRS), a proof-of-concept developed at AFRL in Mesa, provides a high-fidelity, fully immersive, realistic training and rehearsal environment with real-time sensor, simulator, and database correlation. Its primary focus will be to provide a persistent total air-ground virtual training environment for networked air/ground training and mission rehearsals. The JTC TRS will also support training for call for fire training (CFFT) artillery missions. This system will be used to train both JTAC and combat air crews assigned to accomplish complex missions in close proximity to ground forces.

JTAC virtual dome trainer prototype using MetaVR VRSG software and JES Hardware Solution's high-speed FIBRE IG channel data delivery system. Image courtesy of AFRL Mesa Research Site.

The JTC TRS will connect to distributed mission operations networks to enable geographically separated high-fidelity close air support platforms and JTAC and CCT teams to train together. Additionally, the JTC TRS will enable operators to conduct Joint Close Air Support (JCAS) training and mission rehearsal using tailored, dynamic scenarios that are relevant to mission tasking.

The training provided by the Air Force’s Joint Air-Ground Operations Group at Nellis AFB will meet new demands to fulfill the Army's shortages of joint training opportunities.

Operator inside the JTAC virtual dome trainer, looking through a simulated laser designator. Image courtesy of AFRL Mesa.

VRSG view of a street scene on MetaVR's virtual Baghdad database, which the operator on the left sees when looking through the simulated laser designator with embedded 3D graphics hardware. Click the image to see an enlarged version.

Among the technologies used in the Virtual Trainer Dome prototype of the JTAC TRS are MetaVR VRSG and Mersive Technologies' camera-based auto-calibration software for warping and blending the multi-projector display. The projectors for the JTAC dome are provided by Electric Picture Display Systems. The dome display, designed and supplied by Immersive Display Solutions, consists of a transportable 5.0-meter diameter fabric display providing a 220-degree horizontal FOV. The Mark VII laser ranger finder, M22 binoculars, and Ground Laser Target Designator (GLTD) II simulated devices used in the dome were designed and built by Minerva Engineering.

The prototype JTAC Virtual Trainer Dome, built by Lockheed Martin, uses 19 VRSG channels, 14 of which are for the dome itself. There are 7 VRSG channels for 360-degrees around the bottom half of the dome, and another 7 channels for the top half of the dome. The remaining VRSG channels are used for various emulated hand-held command and control (C2) devices inside the dome (binoculars, laser range finders, and so on), a sound channel, and a single AAR/stealth channel. The simulator is a high fidelity, realistic, fully immersive, real-time visual environment with sensor, simulator, and database correlation. The DIS/HLA compliant system will interoperate with legacy systems and provide the capability to network with other air and ground simulators, including simulators of the A-10 program.

   
MetaVR visuals used in flight simulators at AFRL. The image on the left shows an operator inside an A-10 Full Mission Trainer; the image on the right shows operators inside the JTAC virtual dome trainer prototype where the operator in the background is looking through a simulated laser designator and the operator in the foreground is calling in the mission on a simulated radio. Images courtesy of AFRL Mesa Research Site.

The JTAC display does not use VRSG imagery directly as it is projecting on a curved surface instead of a flat one. To compensate for the curved surface, the imagery rendered by VRSG must be distorted before going into the projector. This process is called distortion correction. Another characteristic of curved displays is that the projectors have areas of overlap, which makes the image brighter in these areas. The process of correcting this issue is called edge blending. VRSG now supports the Mersive Sol Server, which provides automated distortion correction and edge blending within the IG.

MetaVR's Baghdad database rendered in VRSG on a curved Mersive display. Images courtesy of Mersive Technologies.

Mersive's Sol Server uses patented software technology to provide automated geometric correction, intensity blending and color correction in the IG freeing customers in their choice of projectors and automating the tedious task of manually calibrating displays. The Mersive solution for the dome trainer is an innovative approach that performs all the warping and blending tasks normally accomplished through external hardware and manual calibration directly in the IG through the VRSG plugin. The plugin redirects VRSG rendering to apply the Mersive warp, blend, and color correction parameters derived from the Mersive Sol Server. The system is calibrated by having client software on each channel output a series of test patterns generated by the Sol Server. An articulating camera views the test patterns and computes data necessary for the client-side plugin to perform distortion correction and edge blending in software. This calibration system provides sub-pixel calibration accuracy and is largely automated, faster, and less labor intensive than conventional systems.

The JTAC Virtual Trainer Dome system described on this web page is a developmental prototype trainer that was built as an R&D project by the USAF. MetaVR only provided the image generation capability as part of the R&D effort.