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Dayton
Business Journal… Wright State
University creates virtual humans for U.S. soldiers -
January 12, 2011
Wright State University students are working on a project aimed at
relieving the culture shock facing soldiers deployed overseas.
Their answer: virtual humans.
The university’s Center of Excellence in Human-Centered Innovation was
awarded a $530,000 grant to give soldiers realistic cultural training
by creating virtual figures that feature personality and cultural
representations of behaviors, mannerisms, facial expressions, speech
patterns and both verbal and non-verbal cues.
The animated, 3D figures will be portrayed in foreign settings and
situations.
The grant was provided by Leonard Wood Institute, which funds projects
designed to improve training and protection for the U.S. Army.
While some soldiers currently receive cultural-awareness training in
military classes, university officials say the virtual experience
allows for more practical training.
Most of the project will be completed in Wright State’s Joshi Research
Center, which houses daytaOhio’s virtual-reality lab. Researchers plan
to bring in people of Arabic background and subject-matter experts.
Expressions reacting to scenarios will be recorded in the lab and
applied to develop multiple versions of the virtual avatars.
The project also will aim to give the training soldiers immediate
feedback to allow them to improve their interaction with people of
different cultures.
The soldiers will be tested periodically to see how much of the
training they retain. Researchers also plan to test the perceptions of
two groups of soldiers — one group that actually experienced real-world
scenarios during deployment and another group that only had the virtual
experience. The result should reveal the effectiveness of the virtual
training, university officials say.
http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/news/2011/01/12/college-makes-virtual-humans-for-soldier.html?ed=2011-01-12&s=article_du&ana=e_du_pub
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