Two companies in Colombia have produced a VR (Virtual Reality) shooting simulator for training soldiers and law enforcement.  Simultech and Brash3d gave the Colombian Army a chance to test out their new system, named the “Vulcano”.

The Vulcano is said to offer all types of environments, including rural and urban settings, as well as various lighting conditions.  The Vulcano VR system uses an HTC Vive headset for audio and visual immersion and can incorporate Beretta 92‘s and Colt AR-15’s.  It’s not a new concept, but the weapons are operated by compressed air to further immerse the participant in the simulated event by adding a sense of recoil.  I had the opportunity to use a compressed air pistol in a law enforcement projector simulator in the police academy. At the time I didn’t feel like the slide fully cycled, but it was enough to move the pistol, which forces the user to reacquire the sights if more shots are needed.

The use of the headset allows for a 360-degree environment with tracking of each action. Infodefensa.com reported that the Vulcano has the ability to analyze each type of projectile used.  Some of this could be lost in translation.  I took it to mean that either it tracks where each bullet was fired and the accuracy of the shooter’s overall performance, or, it has the ability to add bullet drop effect into longer range shots since rifles are incorporated. Perhaps our military readers could comment on that aspect for those that have trained with VR shooting simulators.  The Vulcano VR trainer also utilizes Bluetooth for group exercises.

Photo of US Army using the Dismounted Soldier Training System. Image from Dvidshub.net

Have any of our readers had the opportunity to train on a 3D VR simulator?  What did you think about the experience?