A new augmented reality training tool developed by Magic Leap Horizons uses the Magic Leap One headset to train US Navy personnel through various scenarios. The aim is to ensure soldiers are combat-ready in a room-sized training environment.

The system used is called TRACER, which means “tactically reconfigurable augmented reality supported artificial combat”, and it uses multiple technologies as part of the simulation, such as a Magic Leap headset connected to a backpack processor and a simulated weapon from Haptech (formerly StrikerVR). Realistic recoils are provided through haptic feedback, hand tracking, and new software that can immerse soldiers in a multi-user AR experience.

Magic Leap Horizons initially developed TRACER as part of the US Army’s ARDST Augmented Reality Dismounted Soldier Training project. However, military officials saw TRACER’s potential, and the US Navy started working with Magic Leap and Haptech Inc. to use it, especially for sailors deployed overseas.

In a US Navy Research video, Dr. Patrick Mead from the Naval Surface Warfare Center’s Human Systems Engineering and Research Branch highlighted the importance of the issue, saying: “If you look at the training systems throughout the Navy, we still use a lot of traditional methods, but we have a limited amount of time for sailors to get the training they need. AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) technology, along with some of the peripheral devices and capabilities that come with them, will allow for training scenarios that we could never achieve before.”

Source: vrscout.com/news/us-navy-magic-leap-combat-training/