Varjo has been selected to provide head-mounted display (HMD) technology for the U.S. Army’s Reconfigurable Virtual Collective Trainer (RVCT) Air Program.
The program is centered around providing a portable training capability for three different Helicopters, Apache, Chinook & Blackhawk and is part of the U.S. Army’s efforts to create a synthetic training environment (STE) that can be utilized regardless of location.
RVCT is an adaptable hardware system that connects to the STE to activate collective, mixed-reality training scenarios. The RVCT will now include a special variant of Varjo XR-3 Focal Edition headsets that will enable squads to navigate exercises using actual and computer-generated movements.
With the enhanced Varjo XR-3 Focal Edition capabilities, U.S. Army pilots will leverage Varjo’s human-eye resolution displays augmented with video pass-through technology to experience a fully immersive training environment where they can interact with physical controls in real-time. The headset has advanced video pass-through capabilities, performs well in dark and light environments, allows for deep immersion for long periods of time and also can simulate night-flying scenarios. RVCT also leverages Varjo’s high-security offering as the headsets are Finland manufactured TAA-certified products and do not have radio frequency.
Varjo will work closely with the integrator partner Cole Engineering to further improve the core technologies and implement solutions into mission rehearsal.
“We’re proud to work with the U.S. Army in creating the world’s first video pass-through mixed reality-based air training in this quality and scale,” said Seppo Aaltonen, Chief Commercial Officer of Varjo. “Mixed reality technologies can lower overall defense training costs, increase training flexibility, and improve adaptability to any operational environment.”
“We’re thrilled to work with Varjo to scale the level of training immersion based on specific user needs and requirements without impacting the hardware design of the training systems,” added Eric Carr, Program Director at Cole Engineering Services Inc.
