GridRaster Inc., a leading provider of cloud-based XR platforms that powers high-performance and scalable AR/VR/MR experiences on mobile devices for enterprises, announced it has been selected to the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program of the United States Air Force (USAF) to provide large scale hyper-realistic immersive simulations and training of pilots and support crew.
The traditional pilot training environment is significantly expensive, not flexible, offline, not easily scalable and comes with inherent risks. Aircrew train themselves on a multi-million-dollar aircraft, expend fuel and other consumables, risk wear and tear and maintenance. The rate at which the pilots can be trained is limited by availability of physical aircraft for training purpose and severely constraints the rehearsals possible.
AR/VR provides a flexible platform to conduct training without using expensive aircraft equipment, any costly consumables, and any additional maintenance costs that can be even more effective as it provides a near real-world combat operation environment. Furthermore, AR/VR applications are easily configurable, and the same equipment can be used for many combat training missions and environments in which pilots and staff can have more mission rehearsals. As a result, the USAF will substantially reduce its training budget and still get effective results at the same time.
The landscape of warfare is changing faster than ever before. Live training alone is no longer cost efficient nor able to prepare pilots and crew to adapt to the constantly evolving mission needs. GridRaster technology provides a revolutionary platform for the USAF to unlock the full potential of AR/VR/MR that can rapidly adapt to the advancements of modern warfare by facilitating large scale hyper-realistic immersive simulations and training of pilots and support crew.
“AR and VR technologies save money, create a much safer environment for trainees and help them gain better operational and situational awareness, access to more rehearsals, decreased time required to model varied and customizable terrains and provide a highly engaging mission planning to students,” said Rishi Ranjan, CEO of GridRaster. “We look forward to working with the stakeholders at USAF to adapt our commercial GridRaster platform to address national security needs.”
GridRaster provides foundational software infrastructure and capabilities based on cloud-based open architecture and modular design to enable high performance, accurate and scalable AR/VR/MR solutions for high fidelity hyperscale simulations and training. The GridRaster XR platform utilizes distributed cloud computing/on-premises remote servers with Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) to achieve high-fidelity rendering of complex 3D content, and real-time alignment and tracking of virtual models/scenes over the real-world objects.
The GridRaster AR/VR/MR platform supports a unified and shared synthetic training environment that is flexible enough to allow for mission rehearsals of most types and intuitive enough to make training effective.
The SBIR program is a highly competitive program that encourages domestic small businesses to engage in Federal Research/Research and Development (R/R&D) with the potential for commercialization. Through a competitive awards-based program, SBIR enables small businesses to explore their technological potential and provide the incentive to profit from its commercialization. By including qualified small businesses in the nation's R&D arena, high-tech innovation is stimulated, and the United States gains entrepreneurial spirit as it meets its specific research and development needs.
