Improving Situational Awareness in Military Operations using Augmented Reality

During military operations, the battlefields become fractured zones where the level of confusion, noise and ambiguity impact on achieving tactical objectives. Situational Awareness (SA) becomes a challenge because the unstable perception of the situation leads to a degraded understanding that disables the soldier in projecting the proper results. To meet this challenge various military projects have focused their efforts on designing integrated digital system to support decision-making for military personnel in unknown environments. This paper presents the state of art of military systems using Augmented Reality (AR) in the battlefield.Facultad de Informátic

Developing serious games for cultural heritage: a state-of-the-art review

Although the widespread use of gaming for leisure purposes has been well documented, the use of games to support cultural heritage purposes, such as historical teaching and learning, or for enhancing museum visits, has been less well considered. The state-of-the-art in serious game technology is identical to that of the state-of-the-art in entertainment games technology. As a result, the field of serious heritage games concerns itself with recent advances in computer games, real-time computer graphics, virtual and augmented reality and artificial intelligence. On the other hand, the main strengths of serious gaming applications may be generalised as being in the areas of communication, visual expression of information, collaboration mechanisms, interactivity and entertainment. In this report, we will focus on the state-of-the-art with respect to the theories, methods and technologies used in serious heritage games. We provide an overview of existing literature of relevance to the domain, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the described methods and point out unsolved problems and challenges. In addition, several case studies illustrating the application of methods and technologies used in cultural heritage are presented

Serious Games in Cultural Heritage

Although the widespread use of gaming for leisure purposes has been well documented, the use of games to support cultural heritage purposes, such as historical teaching and learning, or for enhancing museum visits, has been less well considered. The state-of-the-art in serious game technology is identical to that of the state-of-the-art in entertainment games technology. As a result the field of serious heritage games concerns itself with recent advances in computer games, real-time computer graphics, virtual and augmented reality and artificial intelligence. On the other hand, the main strengths of serious gaming applications may be generalised as being in the areas of communication, visual expression of information, collaboration mechanisms, interactivity and entertainment. In this report, we will focus on the state-of-the-art with respect to the theories, methods and technologies used in serious heritage games. We provide an overview of existing literature of relevance to the domain, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the described methods and point out unsolved problems and challenges. In addition, several case studies illustrating the application of methods and technologies used in cultural heritage are presented

Operation Moshtarak and the manufacture of credible, “heroic” warfare

Richard Lance Keeble argues that Fleet Street’s coverage of the Afghan conflict has served largely to promote the interests of the military/industrial/media complex – and marginalise the views of the public who have consistently appealed in polls for the troops to be brought back hom

Space Systems: Emerging Technologies and Operations

SPACE SYSTEMS: EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND OPERATIONS is our seventh textbook in a series covering the world of UASs / CUAS/ UUVs. Other textbooks in our series are Drone Delivery of CBNRECy – DEW Weapons: Emerging Threats of Mini-Weapons of Mass Destruction and Disruption (WMDD); Disruptive Technologies with applications in Airline, Marine, Defense Industries; Unmanned Vehicle Systems & Operations On Air, Sea, Land; Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems Technologies and Operations; Unmanned Aircraft Systems in the Cyber Domain: Protecting USA’s Advanced Air Assets, 2nd edition; and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the Cyber Domain Protecting USA\u27s Advanced Air Assets, 1st edition. Our previous six titles have received considerable global recognition in the field. (Nichols & Carter, 2022) (Nichols et al., 2021) (Nichols R. K. et al., 2020) (Nichols R. et al., 2020) (Nichols R. et al., 2019) (Nichols R. K., 2018) Our seventh title takes on a new purview of Space. Let\u27s think of Space as divided into four regions. These are Planets, solar systems, the great dark void (which fall into the purview of astronomers and astrophysics), and the Dreamer Region. The earth, from a measurement standpoint, is the baseline of Space. It is the purview of geographers, engineers, scientists, politicians, and romantics. Flying high above the earth are Satellites. Military and commercial organizations govern their purview. The lowest altitude at which air resistance is low enough to permit a single complete, unpowered orbit is approximately 80 miles (125 km) above the earth\u27s surface. Normal Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite launches range between 99 miles (160 km) to 155 miles (250 km). Satellites in higher orbits experience less drag and can remain in Space longer in service. Geosynchronous orbit is around 22,000 miles (35,000 km). However, orbits can be even higher. UASs (Drones) have a maximum altitude of about 33,000 ft (10 km) because rotating rotors become physically limiting. (Nichols R. et al., 2019) Recreational drones fly at or below 400 ft in controlled airspace (Class B, C, D, E) and are permitted with prior authorization by using a LAANC or DroneZone. Recreational drones are permitted to fly at or below 400 ft in Class G (uncontrolled) airspace. (FAA, 2022) However, between 400 ft and 33,000 ft is in the purview of DREAMERS. In the DREAMERS region, Space has its most interesting technological emergence. We see emerging technologies and operations that may have profound effects on humanity. This is the mission our book addresses. We look at the Dreamer Region from three perspectives:1) a Military view where intelligence, jamming, spoofing, advanced materials, and hypersonics are in play; 2) the Operational Dreamer Region; whichincludes Space-based platform vulnerabilities, trash, disaster recovery management, A.I., manufacturing, and extended reality; and 3) the Humanitarian Use of Space technologies; which includes precision agriculture wildlife tracking, fire risk zone identification, and improving the global food supply and cattle management. Here’s our book’s breakdown: SECTION 1 C4ISR and Emerging Space Technologies. C4ISR stands for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance. Four chapters address the military: Current State of Space Operations; Satellite Killers and Hypersonic Drones; Space Electronic Warfare, Jamming, Spoofing, and ECD; and the challenges of Manufacturing in Space. SECTION 2: Space Challenges and Operations covers in five chapters a wide purview of challenges that result from operations in Space, such as Exploration of Key Infrastructure Vulnerabilities from Space-Based Platforms; Trash Collection and Tracking in Space; Leveraging Space for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management; Bio-threats to Agriculture and Solutions From Space; and rounding out the lineup is a chapter on Modelling, Simulation, and Extended Reality. SECTION 3: Humanitarian Use of Space Technologies is our DREAMERS section. It introduces effective use of Drones and Precision Agriculture; and Civilian Use of Space for Environmental, Wildlife Tracking, and Fire Risk Zone Identification. SECTION 3 is our Hope for Humanity and Positive Global Change. Just think if the technologies we discuss, when put into responsible hands, could increase food production by 1-2%. How many more millions of families could have food on their tables? State-of-the-Art research by a team of fifteen SMEs is incorporated into our book. We trust you will enjoy reading it as much as we have in its writing. There is hope for the future.https://newprairiepress.org/ebooks/1047/thumbnail.jp

A history of the Sahara in the nineteenth century

African Studies Center Working Paper No.

Towards Live 3D Reconstruction from Wearable Video: An Evaluation of V-SLAM, NeRF, and Videogrammetry Techniques

Mixed reality (MR) is a key technology which promises to change the future of warfare. An MR hybrid of physical outdoor environments and virtual military training will enable engagements with long distance enemies, both real and simulated. To enable this technology, a large-scale 3D model of a physical environment must be maintained based on live sensor observations. 3D reconstruction algorithms should utilize the low cost and pervasiveness of video camera sensors, from both overhead and soldier-level perspectives. Mapping speed and 3D quality can be balanced to enable live MR training in dynamic environments. Given these requirements, we survey several 3D reconstruction algorithms for large-scale mapping for military applications given only live video. We measure 3D reconstruction performance from common structure from motion, visual-SLAM, and photogrammetry techniques. This includes the open source algorithms COLMAP, ORB-SLAM3, and NeRF using Instant-NGP. We utilize the autonomous driving academic benchmark KITTI, which includes both dashboard camera video and lidar produced 3D ground truth. With the KITTI data, our primary contribution is a quantitative evaluation of 3D reconstruction computational speed when considering live video.Comment: Accepted to 2022 Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC), 13 page

GPS-BASED TRACKING IN ARMAPS: THE EFFECT OF DEGREE SLANT SMARTPHONE TO DISPLAY AUGMENTED REALITY OBJECTS

This paper discusses the functionality testing of the augmented reality (AR) application, namely ARmaps. ARmaps is an AR application for directions that uses GPS-based tracking technology (GPS-based tracking). GPS-based tracking is one of the basic techniques in AR, which does not require special media to scan visual objects (marker-less) GPS-based tracking is used to display data digitally. Digital data displayed in the form of user location and directions. Based on the test results, it was found that there was an effect of the degree slant smartphone on the delay time in displaying 3D AR graphic objects. The test is done statically by adjusting the degree slant, namely acute, right-angle, and obtuse. Each test was carried out 30 times. Smartphones that support ARmaps performance should have an accelerometer, proximity, gyroscope, compass, A-GPS with Glonass and BDS sensors, as well as a camera. Smartphones that are placed with a large degree slant of 90o (obtuse angle) have a faster delay time in displaying 3D AR graphic objects, which is 12.7 seconds. This research becomes the basis for developing ARmaps as a guiding application (visualization guiding)