Bringing IT to battle

The Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT) is a collaborative effort among the Army, the University of Southern California and the entertainment industry to develop realistic simulation and virtual reality tools. Such tools will benefit military training, Hollywood moviemaking and the video game industry.

The ICT has several military simulation training projects in the works. They include:

* Creating a realistic surround sound environment so that, for example, a simulated helicopter sounds as if it's hovering overhead.

* Using artificial intelligence and emotion modeling software to make simulated characters reason, react to their environment and project emotions.

* Creating natural language for simulated characters to make conversations with trainees more realistic, a capability likely to be demonstrated this fall.

* Creating realistic 3-D graphics using a special photographic technique that allows for sharper distinctions in color, brighter brights and blacker blacks, than current digital cameras can support.