Interactive Characters for Cultural Training of Small Military Units

CHAOS, the Combat Hunter Action and Observation Simulation, is an immersive simulation training environment which gives small military units the experience of interacting with local Afghan villagers during a patrol. It is a physical build-out of a housing compound in a mock Afghan village, with several lifesize reactive and interactive animated Pashto-speaking virtual characters. The exercise requires an infantry squad to locate and interview a character named Omar, communicating through a live human interpreter and attending to proper protocol regarding Omar’s family. Character animation and behavior is based on extensive interviews with Afghan experts to provide a realistic setting of the intended locale. The system combines virtual human technology, story engineering, and physical set building to provide a compelling training environment that can handle a full squad, requiring trainees to integrate tasks such as working with an interpreter, dealing with non-English speakers from another culture, and assessing information and disposition to make decisions in a mission context.