Hybrid systems and distributed interactive simulations [military]

The Army has set a goal of enhancing battlefield effectiveness by fielding a digital division by 1998 and has started a sequence of field exercises to investigate how new applications of digital technology will affect military operations. These transition activities are part of preparing the Army to fight third-wave warfare-information-age warfare. Distributed interactive simulation (DIS) is a key technology in determining and analyzing alternatives for digitizing the battlefield. Advanced information systems can create a shared situational awareness (visualization) of the battlefield. Realization of shared awareness will support faster-paced operations through real-time force synchronization. Given the rapid changes in computer capabilities, communications bandwidth, and software complexity, it has been unclear what the mid- and far-term technical opportunities and challenges are in applying results from the ongoing information systems revolution to improve battlefield effectiveness. Substantial improvements in current DIS technologies are needed to enable professionals at widely distributed sites to interact simultaneously through simulators, simulations, and deployed systems in a common joint synthetic operational environment. In this article we discuss how one of the foundational technologies supported by the US Army Research Office, hybrid systems technology, can support closing some of the DIS technological gaps.<>