New Weather Depiction Technology for Night Vision Goggle (NVG) Training Navy SBIR FY2005.1 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2005.1 Topic No.: N05-014 Topic Title: New Weather Depiction Technology for Night Vision Goggle (NVG) Training Proposal No.: N051-014-1133 Firm: CG2, Inc., a Quantum3D Company 1525 Perimeter Parkway Suite 325 Huntsville, Alabama 35806 Contact: Todd Nordland Phone: (408) 361-9927 Web Site: www.cg2.com Abstract: The proposed effort will build upon CG2's current state-of-the-art technology in visual weather simulation to develop innovative solutions for sensor weather depiction relevant to the training mission for Navy aircrew, as well as for dismounted infantry, special operations, and other forces that employ Night Vision Goggles ("NVG") in the field. Natural weather effects such as clouds, fog, precipitation, haze and turbulence will be studied. The proposed effort also will include man-made atmospheric phenomena such as engine exhaust, smoke plumes and rotor-wash in the list of "weather depiction" enhancements. Simulation, stimulation, and an innovative "simulation-aided stimulation" system architectures are proposed for the study. The proposed technology envisioned in the study will be relevant to terrain board NVG stimulation training, as well as PC-based computer-graphics-based simulation and stimulation systems. Both physics-based atmospheric radiometric weather modeling, and rendering-technique-based weather depiction, will be included in the study. A cycle of analysis, survey, design, demonstration and subsequent refinement is proposed. Compatibility of the study with existing Navy courseware, media, and training materials will be maintained. Benefits: Current site-based NVG training systems are deficient in all-weather scenario training. Forces that are exposed only to this site-based training are therefore less-than-optimally prepared for night-time inclement weather battlefield conditions. By extending the state-of-the-art for realistic weather depiction in site-based NVG training, the proposed study will increase all-weather force readiness, and will reduce the probability of weather-related mishap. If this technology is brought to production, it can save money by improving training effectiveness and can reduce seat-time for a given level of readiness. It can save both money and lives through the prevention of mishaps. Improvements in weather-depiction can be readily applied to broader commercial simulation markets, such as commercial aviation simulation, driver simulation, electronic gaming, computer animation, virtual environments and other high-end computer graphics applications. Return