MilitarySpot.com

Serving the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard and National Guard

Camp Lejeune Claims
| VA Loans
Follow MilitarySpot:
 
  • Home
  • Enlist
    • Join The Army
    • Join The Navy
    • Join The Air Force
    • Join The Marines
    • Join The Coast Guard
    • Join The National Guard
    • ASVAB
    • Army Physical Fitness Test
    • Military Draft
    • Prior Service Army Enlistment
  • Career
    • Join the Military
    • Jobs for Military and Civilians
    • Career Center
    • Prior Service Army Enlistment
    • Criminal Justice
  • Education
    • Online Schools
    • Spouse Education Benefits
    • GI Bill
    • Military Schools
    • Criminal Justice
  • Benefits
    • Army Benefits
    • Navy Benefits
    • Air Force Benefits
    • Marine Corps Benefits
    • National Guard Benefits
    • Coast Guard Benefits
    • Veteran Benefits
    • Basic Pay Rates
    • Allowances
    • Special & Incentive Pay
    • Military Spouse Education Benefits
    • VA Education Benefits
    • GI Bill
  • News
    • Headline News
  • Finance
    • Debt Relief
    • Military Pay Rates
    • Military Personal Loans
    • VA Loans
    • Military Star Card
    • Military MyPay
  • Spouses
    • School Finder
    • Scholarships & Grants
    • PCS, DITY, & Moving
    • Pay Rates
    • MyCAA
    • Education Benefits
  • Community
    • Military Games
    • Military Reunions
    • Classifieds
    • Photo Gallery
    • Buddy Finder
    • MilitarySpot Pinups
    • Military Bases
  • Resources
    • Military Alphabet
    • Military Reunions
    • Military Acronyms
    • Currency Converter
    • Military Tools
    • Ranks
    • Military Time
    • Military Tactics
    • Military Discounts
    • Military Games
    • Military Videos
    • Photo Gallery
    • Infographics
    • How To
  • Travel

Army Leverages Virtual Reality To Understand Network Influence

JUNE 4, 2021 – Immersive virtual reality isn’t just for amusement parks, the U.S. Army is funding research that uses it to understand group dynamics.

The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, known as DEVCOM, Army Research Laboratory funded scientists at Kent State University’s Electrophysiological Neuroscience Laboratory to create an immersive virtual reality lab that can be used in tandem with their other biophysiological technologies to advance an interdisciplinary understanding of group dynamics.

Immersive reality combines virtual reality with images, sounds, or other stimuli to provide an engrossing environment.

According to Dr. Bruce West, a senior Army scientist, the military is becoming increasingly reliant on small special operations teams, but little is known about how small groups function in these extreme environments. The research team uses cutting edge electrophysiological and physiological equipment to probe team functioning and decision-making under threat.

“In order to make valid and efficacious practical recommendations for small special operations teams in the modern global military context and other threat environments, Soldiers can benefit by training in immersive virtual environments to make them feel like they are really there,” said Dr. Lisa Troyer, program manager, social and behavioral sciences, ARL. “The immersive virtual reality system at Kent State University is developing more valid, impactful knowledge about how teams and individuals navigate dangerous environments.”

The lab includes cutting edge virtual reality headsets with three-dimensional eye tracking and omnidirectional treadmills, which can be integrated with EEG and other emerging biometric technologies.

“With this lab, ENLoK is generating path-breaking social science discoveries,” Troyer said. “The team’s efforts are leading the use of immersive virtual reality and capabilities to identify neurological signals of influencers in groups that can support Army missions by better understanding Army influence networks as well as adversarial groups.”

In earlier research, also funded by ARL and published in Social Psychology Quarterly, the Kent research team conducted a series of experiments manipulating status and used brain activity analyses to successfully identify neurological signals during social interaction that are unique to others’ perceptions of high status actors and their influence over group members.

“Understanding the consequences of status-based behavior in a variety of settings, including small team contexts, can help the Army prepare and train for modern military operations,” said Dr. Will Kalkhoff, ENLoK’s director and professor of Sociology at Kent State University. “The Army can also use the knowledge we are developing to better understand how influencers in allied groups support Army missions through their social networks or how adversarial groups mobilize.”

Now, the research team at Kent State is partnering with MILO, an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based component of Arotech’s Training and Simulation Division that provides immersive training solutions for military and law enforcement organizations around the world. The objective is to improve police and military readiness by integrating rigorous social science with emerging technologies already in use throughout the Department of Defense.

“Support and assisted facilitation of this kind of social research is exactly why we established the MILO Cognitive Division,” said Robert McCue, MILO’s general manager. “Our ultimate goal is to advance the scientific understanding of behavior and decision-making under threat and, in so doing, reduce danger to our servicemen and women and improve mission success by facilitating team functioning under threat.”

As the Army’s corporate research laboratory, ARL is operationalizing science to achieve transformational overmatch. Through collaboration across the command’s core technical competencies, DEVCOM leads in the discovery, development and delivery of the technology-based capabilities required to make Soldiers more successful at winning the nation’s wars and come home safely. DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory is an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command. DEVCOM is a major subordinate command of the Army Futures Command.

Story by Lisa Bistreich-Wolfe
Army Research Laboratory

Comments

Filed Under: Army, News

  • News
  • Enlist
  • Education
  • Career
  • Finance

Northern Strike Continues Support for National Defense

AUGUST 11, 2022 – Northern Strike 22-2, the country’s largest National Guard Bureau-sponsored military exercise, is scheduled to occur across Northern Michigan’s National All-Domain Warfighting Center (NADWC), including Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, Aug. 6-20. Approximately 7,400 participants from 19 states and several coalition countries, including Canada, Latvia, and the U.K., will participate in one […]

Army Develops Future Soldier Preparatory Course

JULY 27, 2022 – In response to the most challenging recruiting environment since the start of the all-volunteer force in 1973, the Army is implementing an innovative new program to prepare recruits who are en-route to initial military training to meet or exceed our rigorous standards. The Future Soldier Preparatory Course pilot program, which is […]

Top 5 University Scholarships for Military in the UK

JUNE 20, 2022 – The cost of a college education can be daunting and unaffordable for many university students in the UK. For the students who have set their hearts on joining the military, there are several scholarships available for them.  These scholarships help military students overcome the financial challenges of attending college. A University […]

Federal Hiring Summit for Transitioning Service Members

AUGUST 10, 2022 – Commander Navy Installation Command Headquarters, Fleet and Family Support Center is hosting a federal hiring summit Aug. 15-18. Although the summit is hosted by the Navy, all military personnel and their spouses can attend this virtual event. Those who are preparing for their end of service or actively transitioning out of […]

Military Consumer Month Focuses on Financial Literacy

JULY 29, 2022 – With inflation soaring in the U.S. and elsewhere, many among the military community, including reservists and veterans, are struggling to make financial ends meet and are in need of a good battle plan to beat their budget foes. Anyone in such a predicament would do well to employ the Department of […]

Recent Posts

  • Northern Strike Continues Support for National Defense
  • Marine Aircraft Wing Sharpens Wing-Level Warfighting
  • Osan Activates Fighter Generation Squadrons
  • ‘Communication and Information’ Career Field Changes Name
  • Midshipmen Test the Waters on Summer Cruise
MAINMENU




SITESEARCH
Can't find something? Try using our site search to dig through our entire site.



Still having trouble? Try the Advanced Search to refine your searches.
NEWSLETTERSUBSCRIBE
Sign Up To Receive Information, Updates and Special Officers from MilitarySpot.com.



Don't miss an issue! Jump in the Newsletter Archives to catch up on previous issues.
FOLLOWMILITARY SPOT

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & StumbleUpon and more. Keep up with MilitarySpot.com news & updates. We also have an RSS Feed.

Advertise | About | Contact | Feedback | Unsubscribe | DMCA | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use
 
Copyright 2004-2022 Sun Key Publishing. All Rights Reserved.



 
This is not the official recruiting website of the U.S. Military. The site you are on is run by Sun Key Publishing, a private company, and is not endorsed by or affiliated with the U.S. Military.