I’ve lived in the virtual environment before as a consumer of simulators and trainers that created a suspension of disbelief – they trained me to operate in very complex environments.
A former warfighter for 35 years, I’m heading back – but in a different capacity - this time to shape the deliveries of the Next Generation of Virtual Environment Training Solutions for my beloved sailors.
The Horizon.
At present we are seeing many “digital twin masts” on the horizon. As we gain more and more experience and transition to a hull-up view of the digital twin we are finding that the possibilities and applications are endless.
From game-based learning to Live Virtual Constructive (LVC) and with the power of our future networks and artificial intelligence we may very soon be able the reuse nature of the digital twin to create a Total Maintenance Platform with virtual reach back.
Since joining Cubic, a company that has for the last eight years been at the leading edge of delivering a Total Learning Platform capable of qualifying and certifying sailors and watch-teams in the confines of a Training Facility.
I realize that we have just scratched the surface of what can be accomplished with the creation of a digital twin – to include point of need application (training, maintenance, …etc.) for the warfighter.
Our industry is moving towards an ability to not only quickly create virtual content, but harness a combination of learning management systems, AI, ML, UI/UX to understand human and team performance in a way that has never been possible.
Our industry will take us to a place where virtual simulation will be a full-time reality - a place where you get to re-use what you create to continue to refine the fidelity of the environment.
Glad you joined me in the virtual environment. Here's what it looks like.
Enter the Digital Twin.
A digital twin is a virtual copy of physical assets or products.
The term digital twin was originally coined by Dr. Michael Grieves in 2002. Digital twins connect the real and virtual world…by collecting real-time data from the installed sensors.
The data is either locally decentralized or stored in a cloud then evaluated and simulated in virtual copy of the assets.
The integration of data in real and virtual presentations helps optimize the performance of real assets – and this is when it becomes applicable in the training environment.
Enter Training Time.
From a training perspective, the ability to qualify individuals and certify watch teams (T2Q/T2C) in shorter periods of time is vitally important, especially when our fleet is stressed trying to cover every corner of the globe – forward presence.
The training mediums and modalities available, lends itself to distributing content or refresher training to point of need.
Imagine being able to “virtually” conduct a complex and graded evolution, such as a watch team (multi-role) transit of a highly contested choke point (e.g. Strait of Hormuz), or a virtual fuel system alignment an hour before you actually do it “Live – at Sea”… the re-use of the digital twin content can now extend beyond the traditional brick and mortar training facilities.
Usher in Support.
The “ultimate I’ll meet you in the virtual environment” could in fact lead us into an era where the ability to keep a ship at its highest levels of readiness can be achieved while on deployment through cloud based distributed training and “virtual” over the shoulder, subject matter expert (SME) support…let’s call it ZOOM+.
Imagine being able to in a distributed fashion tailor or target training based on periodicity, expected operations, equipment casualties, changes in configuration or to address fleet trends… all while deployed.
Evolution or Revolution?
How do I evolve it…is it an evolution or a revolution? Can something be an evolution and a revolution all at the same time?
Well let’s just say that I may not be smart enough to answer the philosophical definitions between an evolution or a revolution, so let’s call it both.
- Evolution: It’s all about the layering! You can create the digital twin and layer in the fidelity you need when you need it or when budgets support. In other words, once you build it you get to keep it and build “real world” fidelity into it.
- Revolution: It’s all up to your imagination! So, if you can be bold with AI, ML and Cloud Delivery, you can quickly make this revolutionary. Gone could be the days of casualty reports, a green wheel book and a choppy call on a ship’s windy bridge wing trying to communicate with a subject matter expert halfway around the world to talk about an equipment casualty. Instead, you could run through an already developed virtual maintenance lesson and if needed follow up with a ZOOM+ hollow lens mixed reality distance support session. The technology is there.
You don’t necessarily need a revolution; you need a disruptive revolutionary with a vision.
Reap and Review the Rewards.
In 2018, after five years of using Immersive Virtual Environment (IVE) training, the US Navy reported to Congress that when they compared traditional trained students to Immersive Virtual Environment trained students, they found that IVE students achieved higher proficiency in a shorter time period.
The scaffolded/mixed media IVE training provided many benefits to include:
- Increased reps and sets with differing views.
- Previously unimaginable and unachievable complexity of scenarios that reinforce procedural compliance for normal and casualty operations.
Do it Again.
As a true believer of the leveraging the virtual environment…I see the potential of what it will deliver in the future and what I wished I had when I was a young warfighter.
I have a laundry lists of many more benefits, but what I learned in command of a 29-year-old Frigate, is that a well-trained crew can extend the life of the ship and confidently operate at sea in the most complex scenarios.
“There’s nothing like the smell of gunpowder in the morning” was a famous line in the movie Apocalypse Now.
You learn a whole lot in trial by fire.
What you can gain leading up to that culminating point, where your decisions or actions can lead to life or death is confidence, which comes from proficiency, which comes from good and repetitive training…something the virtual environment can deliver in spades.
Eat. Sleep. Train. Repeat.
Above all, be ready to FIGHT!
Fermin “Espi” Espinoza is the senior director of business development for Cubic Mission and Performance Solutions’ Maritime business where he leads business development and strategy efforts. Formerly a U.S. Navy Captain with 35 years of service, he concluded his military career as the Deputy Director for Surface Training Systems at the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, where he oversaw the, acquisition and lifecycle support of a wide spectrum of training solutions for the U.S. Navy.
Espinoza deployed to the Arabian Gulf in USS Ford (FFG 54) as Undersea Warfare Officer, Ordnance Officer and USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) as Interior Communications Officer. Later served as commissioning crew Operations Officer in USS Shoup (DDG 86) the test and evaluation platform for the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM); Operations Officer for Commander Destroyer Squadron Nine, while deployed with Carl Vinson Strike Group; and as Operations Officer in USS Coronado (AGF 11), while deployed as the Seventh Fleet Flag Ship. In USS Dewey (DDG 105), the first Standard Missile Six (SM-6) test and evaluation platform, he served as commissioning crew Executive Officer. As Chief of Staff for Pacific Partnership 2011, he deployed in support of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief training and operations in the Oceania Island Region. Following command, he served as a member of the Surface Acquisition Corps where in PEO C4I, he managed the advance planning and integration of C4I Systems on Surface Combatants and Aegis Ashore.
Espinoza received a Master of Science in Space Systems Operations from the Naval Postgraduate School and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin.
