What a Feeling: Industry Developing Haptic Tech to Bolster Military Training.

• Author: Roaten, Meredith

The U.S. military wants to enhance its training, and it is putting research-and-development dollars toward creating more realism. With prices coming down and use cases expanding, industry believes haptic technology that can simulate real touch and feel will save the Defense Department time and money once it becomes mainstream.

Engineering and Computer Simulations, an Orlando, Florida-based company, recently announced the opening of a new lab to test new sensory technology for the Army, Marines and Navy. It's one of the first of its kind in the country and could lead the way for widespread adoption by the services in areas such as medical and maintenance training, according to company executives.

After working in haptic and virtual reality technology for decades, Waymon Armstrong, CEO and president of the firm, said the technology has come a long way. If a soldier or a battlefield medic wearing a haptic-enabled glove can feel what it is like to pull a trigger or flip a switch, they are more likely to do their job correctly.

"You put the gloves on and it just amplifies that," he said. "It's a force multiplier in making it seem so much more real."

With sensory capabilities available in gloves, Marines can train in many more scenarios, Armstrong said. In September, the Marine Corps awarded Engineering and Computer Simulations--along with six other companies--indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with an estimated value of up to $238 million.

The Marines Corps also is incorporating haptic technology into its advanced training Force-on-Force Training Systems-Next, which will feature a haptic wristwatch that will alert the user if direct or indirect fire is headed their way. Saab was awarded the contract for the system this summer.

The Army is also thinking about how to integrate the technology. The Orlando lab's first research-and-development program is funded by the Army's Simulation and Training Technology Center. Through 2024, researchers will study how the service could benefit from three different gloves, including HaptX's DK2 gloves.

The DK2--which launched in January--uses microfluidic technology to displace the skin on the user's hand up to 2 millimeters, said Joe Michaels, chief revenue officer of HaptX. Compressed air flows through the glove to move 133 actuators against the palm to make it feel like a simulated object is actually pressing against it.

The glove also has tendons that can deliver 40 pounds of resistive force...