Vrgineers will unveil the XTAL 3 CAVU headset at I/ITSEC 2023. (Photo: Vrgineers)
Mixed reality technology is gaining momentum in the simulation industry – especially in pilot training environment – and has been expected to surpass the usage of standard projection-based simulators.
Vrgineers, a US-Czech startup, will unveil a new mixed-reality (MR) headset XTAL 3 CAVU (Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited) at I/ITSEC 2023 in Orlando, Florida, next week.
Vrgineers has partnered with with graphical chip rivals AMD and NVIDIA to create an architecture for mixed-reality simulators.
The system has been designed to eliminate calculation bottlenecks and brings mixed reality technology to the forefront of the industry using 24Mpix image sensors that are connected to Xilinx FPGA PCIe16x card via optical cables.
The company said that the processor had been designed to calculate high-resolution, mixed-reality images in just one millisecond, while the direct connection with the latest NVIDIA Quadro RTX A6000 GPU bypasses the CPU, reducing overall latency to a minimum.
‘As a result, the Quadro RTXA600 is entirely dedicated to virtual reality calculations, conserving resources and enhancing performance,’ the company noted.
Vrgineers CEO and co-founder Marek Polcak said: ‘By utilising AMD Xilinx FPGA PCIe16x card in a combination with NVIDIA Quadro card, we found a way to provide [a] much needed performance boost for mixed reality, which is far above of two fastest graphical cards, with much lower latency [and] power consumption.’
The system will be embedded in Vrgineers MR classroom simulators and available for purchase in 2024 for selected partners, including the US Navy under SBIR Phase II. Vrgineers has also brought to market an improved version of the more-affordable XTAL 3 NEO MR headset.
The service has shown an interest in a range of training solutions from individual to battalion levels and plans to award multiple contracts ahead of new programmes set to run from FY2024 to FY2031.
VirTra has unveiled the integration of VBS4 and BlueIG into its simulator systems with the aim of enhancing the capabilities of its technology for military training.
For the first time CAE exhibited a digital F-16 cockpit integrated with the Simulators Common Architecture Requirements and Standards (SCARS) marking a major step forward in training equipment virtualisation.