N06-100 TITLE: Advanced Equipment Maintenance Training Using Revolutionary Video Game Technology

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems, Human Systems

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: Program Management Test, Measurement and Diagnostic Equipment (PMTMDE)

OBJECTIVE: Develop an advanced equipment maintenance training capability, based upon revolutionary video game technology, that is designed to give military personnel real-life equipment maintenance training in a virtual environment

DESCRIPTION: For many years, the U.S. military has been using computer-based training as a training tool for its troops. This type of training often takes the form of a web-based program in which a trainee must read through a long series of web pages full of text information and answer questions via common webpage controls such as edit boxes and radio buttons. Such training, although very effective, often tends to be boring, unchallenging, and somewhat mind numbing with questionable levels of memory retention.

In light of this, there is currently a need in the Marine Corps to provide its equipment maintainers with a cutting edge, graphic intensive, interactive, and highly intuitive video game-based equipment training capability designed to give them training in the use of the Marine Corps automatic test technology to troubleshoot and repair Marine Corps weapon systems. Such a training capability would literally pull the maintainer into learning how to use the Marine Corps� advanced automatic maintenance test technology and a variety of general purpose test equipment, by creating exciting and challenging real-life maintenance scenarios that he must resolve given a predefined set of maintenance resources.

As a maintainer attacks a given maintenance challenge, the immersive and ultra-realistic video game based training system may use state-of-the-art brain wave monitoring technology to measure his level of interaction with the system and intuitively adjust the difficulty and intensity level of the challenge according to its assessment of the trainee's ability to focus and concentrate on a given task. This will, in turn, enhance the trainee's ability to understand and retain new technical concepts that are presented to him during the game. This technology is currently being used to teach children with attention deficit disorder to focus and concentrate better on educational activities via a video game-based learning system, thus improving their learning and memory skills. Much research would need to be done to apply this technology to Marine Corps equipment maintenance.

Upon completing a given maintenance challenge, a maintainer is given a score based upon the amount of time and resources that he took to diagnose and solve the problem as well as upon the level of difficulty of the challenge. He may even choose to compete with one or more other maintainers to see who can diagnose and repair a given maintenance problem the fastest. Such an exercise would challenge maintainers to strive for better scores; hence, improving their troubleshooting skills in the process and continuing to enhance retention.

Video game industry research has shown that an average of one of every three American households has a video game system. In light of this, the use of video game technology for equipment maintenance training should be second nature to a large number of Marine maintainers. Many of them have already spent a great deal of time as teenagers playing with video games and becoming acquainted with a variety of video game controls. Also, by adding the excitement of a video game to equipment maintenance training exercises, Marines may even begin to be drawn to the thrill of the video games� maintenance challenges much in the same way that they would the challenges of a commercial video game.

This same video game technology would also benefit Navy, Army, and Air Force equipment maintainers. In the same way that a video game based training capability can be used to train Marine Corps maintainers in the use of advanced automatic test technology, it can also be used to train troops from the other services in the use of their respective test equipment.

PHASE I: Design a cutting-edge video game-based training system that challenges Marine Corps maintainers to overcome a variety of equipment maintenance challenges using the Marine Corps� advanced automatic maintenance test technology and a variety of general purpose test equipment. The training system must be designed to score maintainers performance based upon the amount of time and resources that they use to perform a given maintenance task and upon the level of difficulty of the task. The level of difficulty of the task is determined by the the system's ability to use state-of-the-art brainwave monitoring technology to measure the degree of interaction that the maintainer has with the system. The less time and resources that he uses to overcome a given maintenance challenge and the higher the difficulty level of the challenge, the better his score.

PHASE II: Develop a prototype video game that implements the video game design that is developed in Phase I.

PHASE III: Develop the video game prototype for field demonstration of equipment maintenance training for specific DoD platform applications. Transition the video game to the fleet.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: The proposed novel technology would have broad civilian impact for training equipment maintainers in diagnosing and repairing problems associated with a variety of electronic systems in numerous commercial applications.

REFERENCES:
1. Cpl. Shawn C. Rhodes, 2005. "Training Marines with Video Games", U.S. Military "About" website: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/marinetrng/a/videogame.htm

2. Associated Press, October 3, 2003. "Military Training Is Just a Game", Wired News website: http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,60688,00.html.

3. Murdoc Online, April 8, 2005. "Playing Games With the Troops". Murdoc Online website: http://murdoconline.net/archives/002170.html.

4. BBC News, November 25, 2005. "US Army Cuts Teeth on Video Game". BBC News website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/technology/4460082.stm.

5. Frank Vizard, 2005. "Couch to Combat", Popular Mechanics website: http://popularmechanics.com/science/defense/1674362.html.

6. "Play Attention" website: http://www.playattention.com/main.php

7. "S.M.A.R.T BrainGames" website: http://www.smartbraingames.com/

KEYWORDS: Video game, training, equipment maintenance, computer simulation.

TPOC: Mike Shellem
Phone: (229)639-7692
Fax: (229)639-6172
Email: [email protected]
2nd TPOC: Mike Heilman
Phone: (703)432-3240
Fax:
Email: [email protected]

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

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