Avatars invade military training systems.

• Author: Beidel, Eric

A lot of virtual training happens in video game-like environments, where soldiers see combat through the eyes of a superhero character.

But if the Army is going to train its troops through gaming, officials say the characters in the virtual world should perform more like actual soldiers.

That is one part of the reasoning behind a new idea the Army has to create avatars for every soldier. These digital representations would accompany service members throughout their training and allow them to see, through simulation, how their skills, or lack thereof, would play in life and death situations.

The influence of video games on military training has been substantial, and the military's interest in avatars--for soldiers and other actors in simulations--is growing. It was evident in the many products on display at the world's largest military training and simulation conference in Orlando--in the graphics, the props and the apparent ease with which younger soldiers adapt to a virtual setting. And at the entrance to the showroom floor, greeting attendees to the Interservice/lndustry Training, Simulation and Education Conference, was an avatar.

A pixilated character named "Information Jason" bantered with service members and industry executives. It engaged in small talk and told them jokes. The avatar was performing the motions and speaking the words of a man behind a curtain several yards away. It was the creation of Organic Motion, a company that also supplied technology for a Lockheed Martin Corp. system demonstrated at the conference.

The Avatar Target Insertion System had onlookers gathering around to watch a service member talking to a suspicious computerized character in a simulated Afghanistan village. The avatar on the screen was able to hold a conversation in real-time. It responded to specific questions and commands. It was being controlled by an actor in New York City.

"Some things we have the capability to do very easily," said Chester Kennedy, vice president of engineering, global training and logistics at Lockheed. "Some things we're not quite there with. The step in between is what I'm calling a manned avatar. There is a person driving the characteristics of that avatar. they just don't have to be in the same physical space."

Avatars could be controlled by people in theater to imbue training with the most up-to-date information and scenarios on the ground. War is not static, Kennedy said. Threats are constantly changing. A trainee does...