The Future of Simulation / Whole of World

The rise and benefits delivered by “Serious Games” and virtual simulations in modern military training over the last decade are beyond debate. Virtual simulations now play a vital role in the training continuum, are essential enablers for basic and intermediate skills, and provide a mechanism to deliver cost effective access to assets and complex scenarios, albeit simulated, that wouldn’t otherwise be available.

Key to the adoption of Serious Games has been the development, in the last decade, of a number of systems that focused on small scale single service applications, and many focused on specifics within that domain (e.g., infantry minor tactics or tank warfare). None of them, however, truly deliver a cross-domain solution in their own right, and therefore cannot meet the broader requirements of modern military training.

While development environments like Unity, Havok and Unreal have the superior graphics and features that the X-Box generation has come to expect (and demand) over aging military options, and could potentially be developed to address the cross-domain issues noted above, they do not deliver an ‘out of box’ training solution. Instead, they are simply a software development tool waiting for someone to code a ‘Serious Game’-like capability.

While all of these development environments are in use today they do not compete, ‘out of the box’, with the aging training solutions currently in service. There has always been a requirement for a system that could deliver both the ‘out of the box’ benefits of a Serious Game as well as the versatility of a modern and open development environment.

Until Calytrix CSE this was not possible.

Calytrix CSE was specifically created to address the challenges of modern training, namely:

1. Cross-domain solutions — Calytrix CSE natively supports underwater, sea, land and even space operations in a stunning visual environment encompassing the entire globe;
2. An out-of-the box Serious Games experience — Calytrix CSE provides this, as well as a modern and, more importantly, “open” development framework. As a serious game, Calytrix CSE provides key features including real-time terrain editing, a scenario editor, an AI engine and After Action Replay facility. As a development tool Calytrix CSE provides native in-game support for JavasScript and HTML5, as well as access to the system via node.js and a full and included C++ API; allowing anyone with knowledge of web technologies to customise and extend Calytrix CSE including the development of new and fully branded specialist simulation with complete replacement user interfaces; and
3. Calytrix CSE is new and only at the beginning of its development path. As such Calytrix CSE reflects modern hardware and software standards and philosophies. It is built using the latest technologies; supports key modern standards like HTML5; and has an open philosophy that actively promotes open standards and approaches. More importantly, the underlying rendering engine, Outerra, is near the start of its development cycle and will only improve over the next 10 years.

CAlytrix CSE is a sign post for the future of virtual and constructive simulations. By default Calytrix CSE delivers the entire globe at 30m source resolution (further refined to 15cm in real time), including all mountains and undersea geography. As viewed from space, Calytrix CSE displays the APP-6A symbology of globally distributed forces. A user can then dive towards the earth at any point, passing through stunningly rendered clouds, with visuals out to the horizon, until they land on firm ground with every blade of grass now visible and moving in the wind.

The APP-6A symbology seen at 100,000ft has now been merged into full 3D platform models at the highest fidelity, allowing a user to jump into a vehicle and join the exercise at any time. From constructive to virtual, from space, air, land and to sea, Calytrix CSE offers a single environment that blurs all the current limitations of existing systems and shows a clear technology path for the simulation domain.

Underpinning CAlytrix CSE is a revolutionary approach to terrain and virtual simulations. The solution uses cutting edge ‘procedural fractal rendering’ based on geo-specific data to generate beautifully realistic vistas for any field of vision on land, sea, air and even space. It merges virtual and constructive capabilities at a planetary scale.

While this ‘newness’ comes with some early adopter risk (though there are several such adopters already), the system does point strongly to the future. It is the only option that employs modern technologies with a clean and modern open systems philosophy, and the only solution that answers the cross-domain application problem with a clear development roadmap.

As the figure to the right illustrates, Calytrix CSE defines a new approach for delivering simulations; a vision that moves away from the current model of applying multiple integrated systems to meet the needs of the training audience (TA) to a more unified platform. This vision is directly aligned with the aspiration of a single solution to meet the broadest possible requirements over the next decade.