BISim leveraging Varjo’s XR-3 Mixed Reality headset for immersive Apache helicopter training simulation

In Mixed Reality News

December 7, 2020 – Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim), a provider of simulation and training solutions for defense and civilian organizations, has recently announced that it is among the first companies to integrate Varjo’s newly announced XR-3 headset into a mixed reality Apache helicopter simulator demo on display at its Orlando facility. BISim customers will soon be able to use the XR-3 out of the box with the company’s VBS Blue IG software for extended reality (XR) training applications.

VBS Blue IG is BISim’s high-performance, CIGI-compliant, whole-earth image generator and can be used across individual part-task trainers, XR solutions and full-motion simulators with multiple synchronized displays, according to the company. It supports a variety of VR headsets and devices out of the box.

“Varjo’s XR-3 integrated with tech from BISim and our partners is another huge step forward for military training and simulation. We’re able to offer integrators a demonstration of how to quickly and easily develop high-quality and cost-efficient mixed reality training systems,” said BISim Chief Commercial Officer, Pete Morrison. “From AR to VR, the Varjo XR-3 offers a complete spectrum of mixed reality tools, enabling BISim’s VBS4 and VBS Blue IG to visualize and blend the real and virtual better than ever before.”

In addition to Varjo’s brand new XR-3 headset, the mixed reality Apache demo combines BISim’s VBS Blue IG software as the whole-earth visual environment with Bugeye Technologies’ portable AH-64 reconfigurable virtual collective trainer (RVCT), which represents a mobile and reconfigurable training solution that can be hand-carried and set up in less than an hour; and SASim’s FLEX-air software as the simulation host and flight model, which provides a complete avionics, flight, and weapons simulation designed to work with VBS Blue IG in desktop, VR and MR solutions.

“The XR-3’s 115-degree field of view gives users double the human-eye resolution and ultra-high resolution across the full frame, allowing VBS Blue IG users a more natural view of our high-fidelity, whole-earth visual environment from an MR cockpit,” added Morrison. “This is a key improvement for providing pilots with more realistic immersion into the virtual and mixed reality environment.”

The integrated eye-tracking capability of Varjo’s XR-3 headset is used to support the device’s ultra high resolution through foveated rendering in real time, allowing users to more effectively leverage VBS Blue IG features such as its “unlimited” view distances and high framerates. BISim added that the eye-tracking capability also opens up possibilities for trainee learning management.

On display now at BISim’s Orlando facility, the Apache simulator leverages the XR-3’s mixed reality masking to demonstrate how more lightweight mixed reality simulators can be developed for flight training. 

For more information on BISim’s mixed reality training solutions, please visit the company’s website.

Image credit: BISim

About the author

Sam Sprigg

Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.