Orlando, FL (1 Dec 2019) – Orlando-based Serious Simulations has innovated another industry first – a consolidated electrical power platform for small arms. The U.S. patent office recognized the innovative hardware as a novel approach for consolidating power provision, power management, and power protection on the ever growing number of electronic devices on military, law enforcement, and civilian firearms.
“We undertook the challenge of unifying and rationalizing power provision on small arms because we were experimenting with multiple electronics on weapons for use in VR and AR training,” said Chris Chambers, CEO of Serious Simulations. “Without our approach, we were left with a variety of disparate batteries, whose weights were unevenly distributed about the weapon. Our approach consolidates the battery needs into a compact and smart package that is easily affixed to standard weapons, and whose weight does not adversely affect the weight and balance of the underlying weapon.”

The hardware is a rechargeable and hot-swappable battery unit in the shape and function of a standard adjustable buttstock unit for a weapon. For all actions by the user, the power buttstock is indiscernible from the weapons’ issued butt stock. This technology is broadly applicable to all weapons with multiple electronic devices mounted on them such as laser range finder, night vision devices, chemical and biological detectors, simulation sensors, digital scopes, laser designators and more.

Branded as the PowerButtTM for the M4/AR15 Carbine this recent U.S. patent office action recognizes that Serious Simulations continues to provide unique and innovative solutions to the VR and AR training markets, as well as solving operational needs of its customers.

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For more information media should contact –
Christopher Chambers, Serious Simulations, 407-538-1927, cchambers@serioussimulations.com

About Serious Simulations, LLC: Serious Simulations LLC, an Orlando based Veteran Owned simulation business, designs immersive training systems using custom made hardware and software components for specific skill training needs, combined with motion tracking systems, wireless communications devices, wireless display technologies and commercial game engines. It produces wireless video technology and wireless head/helmet mounted displays (HMDs) with very high resolutions and wide fields of view. The industry-leading wireless HMDs, and wireless VR add-ons, are available separately or as components of Serious Simulations’ professional grade VR training systems for military, police, emergency responders, and professional grade entertainment experiences. The company is a partner in the Open Source Virtual Reality (OSVR) network. For more information, visit our web site at www.serioussimulations.com . Inquiries: info@serioussimulations.com.

Serious Simulations design and manufacturers professional grade virtual reality training equipment that prepares professional military, law enforcement, sports, emergency, commercial, and industrial personnel for successfully executing the complex—and sometimes dangerous—tasks they are likely to face in their fields.

The phrase “serious gaming” may sound like an oxymoron—or perhaps like hours spent in a video game—but in reality, serious gaming has little to do with play. Gaming entertains, but serious gaming saves lives. Serious Simulations takes its name from this descriptor, differentiating itself from games and virtual reality used for entertainment.

The company was founded in 2014 by military and simulation-software veterans—some of them, like CEO Christopher Chambers, are veterans of both industries. The founders’ unique and combined experience finds its expression in the custom-made hardware and software components used in the training suites that Serious Simulations provides. If wireless-communication devices, display technologies, motion-tracking systems, and commercial game engines form the skeleton of what Serious Simulations can offer, then the muscles and ligaments are the company’s weapon skins—sensor-laden cases that snap to the outside of real or simulated weapons used in training in order to capture data about their use—and its comprehensive training programs, like the ready2train™ simulators for both groups and individuals. Whether for software or hardware, Serious Simulations’ guiding principle is “If it’s real, it’s right.”

“What you can’t see in training could kill you in combat,”

“What you can’t see in training could kill you in combat,” the company reasons. Serious Simulations was also first to create a real-time inverse kinematic plug-in for Virtual Battlespace 3 (VBS3), the software used by military organizations around the world for VR training. (Inverse kinematics is the process of recreating an object’s movements on a computer avatar from tracking the object as it performs those movements. Think of the animation process for the movie Avatar, for example, except done in real-time.) Other firsts-and-only’s for Serious Simulations include creating the world’s first Oculus DK2 VR display, enabling the first successful use of wireless VR in a major theme park, and offering the world’s only individual training simulator using 100% real-duty equipment, including real weapons, in full-motion VR simulators. Even the simulator itself is the only one of its kind in the way it allows for unhindered human movement, which is key in the “suspension of disbelief” required for a VR scenario to seem real and thus be effective.

If the future is bright for Serious Simulations, it’s because the company is doing its part to create its own sunshine. In addition to competing in the rapidly growing markets of professional training and military and law-enforcement hardware, Serious Simulations’ pioneering extends to professional sports and location-based entertainment (LBE) as well. This form of VR utilizes a large space, allowing participants to move freely, and can incorporate physical props to create a tactile element within the VR experience. LBE is part of Serious Simulations’ ready2train™ programs, and it is also the future of VR entertainment. Even those with no gaming experience can enjoy LBE; and some simulators require no unnatural or gaming-specific movement (like manipulating a joystick, for example).

An up and coming company, Serious Simulations has been awarded two internationally recognized “Good Design” awards in electronics by the Chicago Athenaeum (2017 and 2018), and was named a Top 10 Technology Innovation Company by the Orlando Business Journal for 2018.

Serious Simulations’ programs and technology put the “reality” in “virtual reality” and offers its trainees the ultimate value: knowing what to expect and the experience needed to handle it safely and effectively.

Experience the ready2train completely wireless VBS4 simulator with human real-time avatar animation.

Serious Simulations, an Orlando based Veteran Owned Small Business, designs immersive training systems for professional level Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality training.  The company’s technical approach has always been to be as realistic as possible, and has innovated ground breaking Wireless VR techniques, Wireless Helmet/Head Mounted Displays enabling human peripheral vision, wireless instrumentation of real weapons and tools in simulators, unique real time animation of VBS4 avatars, and extremely high accuracy machine gun tracking systems.  

Brands: ready2train (simulator) accutrack (high accuracy machine gun tracker) weapon skins (wireless data sensors for real weapons) reformatter (zero latency wireless video transmission)

Visit our booth at this years I/ITSEC 2019 show in Orlando, Florida, December 2nd – 6th.

Orlando, FL (22 Oct 2019) – Orlando-based Serious Simulations has innovated another industry first – wireless video transmission for simulations and games to stream real time video to head mounted displays (HMDs) with zero latency. The U.S. Patent office issued a patent for a technology that Serious Simulations considers its Generation 1 of wireless video for simulations and game.
The technology has been in use by several simulation and commercial location based entertainment companies for three years under the brand name of ReformatterTM. This conclusive action by the U.S. patent office officially recognizes and protects the company’s innovation as unique and protected.

The new process sends zero latency wireless video/audio/data transmissions to head mounted displays with delivery of pixels to the display in only 17 microseconds. This is the fastest video transmission technique to date. It represents the company’s desire to achieve real time video transmission to HMDs in all conditions and for all resolutions.Generation 1 video/audio/data transmission allows manufacturers to utilize commercial LCD and OLED displays of the smart phone industry combined with commercial wireless radio transmitters in the 60 GHz range. The methodology requires one printed circuit board and a tiny file of code to be inserted in the game/simulation code. Before the Serious Simulations invention, transmissions using this pipeline suffered from buffering a full frame of latency. This invention reduced the all-important latency measure from 16.67 milliseconds to less than 17 microseconds – a 1000 fold improvement.
“Serious Simulations began tackling the problem of latency in video transmissions to HMDs, because it is vital to effective training in virtual and augmented reality without sickness and disorientation,” said Chris Chambers, founder of Serious Simulations. “We could not produce our desired VR and AR training products as serious training devices, with high levels of latency. We saw that no solution existed on the market, so we undertook our own approach. Generation 1 is just the beginning. Our Generation 2 product is under way with much higher resolutions and frame rates.”

The current patent is applicable to a wide variety of commercial displays in a variety of resolutions up to and including 1920×1080 and frame rates of 60 FPS.
The company produces HMDs using its patented wirelesss video transmission technology and offers the technology to other company’s HMDs as well.

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For more information media should contact –
Christopher Chambers, Serious Simulations, 407-538-1927, cchambers@serioussimulations.com

About Serious Simulations, LLC: Serious Simulations LLC, an Orlando based Veteran Owned simulation business, designs immersive training systems using custom made hardware and software components for specific skill training needs, combined with motion tracking systems, wireless communications devices, wireless display technologies and commercial game engines. It produces wireless video technology and wireless head/helmet mounted displays (HMDs) with very high resolutions and wide fields of view. The industry-leading wireless HMDs, and wireless VR add-ons, are available separately or as components of Serious Simulations’ professional grade VR training systems for military, police, emergency responders, and professional grade entertainment experiences. The company is a partner in the Open Source Virtual Reality (OSVR) network. For more information, visit our web site at www.serioussimulations.com . Inquiries: info@serioussimulations.com.

ORLANDO, Fla. (USA) — Serious Simulations, an Orlando-based, Veteran-owned simulation company, will join Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim), a global developer of advanced military simulation and training software, at BISim’s booth (#2235) during I/ITSEC 2018 to demonstrate new software that enables motion capture and other tracking technologies to utilize natural human motion to animate the avatars in a VBS experience, in real time.

Serious Simulations leveraged technology from IKINEMA Ltd, a world leader in Motion Capture data processing, to build the plug-in that integrates the IKINEMA solver to the various versions of VBS3 software. The new technology for VBS3 is called Serious ArtIKulations™, which uses human motion tracking data (via optically tracked rigid bodies) to control the motions of a trainee’s avatar in VBS3. The initial version uses 6 DOF, sub-millimeter accurate Motion Capture data tracked directly from the natural human motion of the trainee via lightweight passive reflective markers or active LED markers to animate the trainee’s avatar. Serious ArtIKulations accomplishes full avatar motion in real time by blending the optical tracking data seamlessly with some VBS3 avatar animation data of the lower body.

“In real-time, interactive tactical training such as a squad’s task of clearing a building, you need to be able to track a human trainees’ movements and immediately articulate the VBS3 avatar’s movement to reflect the actual movements of the human being trained,” said Chris Chambers, Serious Simulations’ CEO. “Infantry squads practicing tactical maneuvers use different communications methods including hand and arm signals that make motion tracking critical for effective training. We track selected points on the actual upper body and use an Inverse Kinematics Solver to calculate other body part positions which greatly improves simulation efficiency and reduces latency.”

Serious ArtIKulations™ is available for use with VBS3 v18.3 and has been tested with VBS STE, part of BISim’s new technology suite which combines an enhance VBS simulation engine with VBS Blue whole-earth rendering.

“Serious Simulations’ Serious ArtIKulations™ technology helps fill a critical training gap for dismounted infantry training,” said Pete Morrison, BISim’s Co-CEO. “With the growing emphasis on VR and AR for use in training within the mil-sim domain and the advent of more affordable consumer VR peripherals, the ability to accurately capture and reflect realistic human movement will help increase immersion and improve training.”

Individual and group real-time animation with weapons will be supported in Serious ArtIKulations™. Upcoming versions will expand the capabilities to other tracking systems and provide for user-driven customizations, such as the number, type, and location of markers.

About Bohemia Interactive Simulations

Founded in 2001, Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim) is a global software company at the forefront of simulation and training solutions for defense and civilian organizations. Our mission is to harness the explosive potential of technology to revolutionize training and simulation. BISim utilizes the latest game-based technology and a large, experienced in-house team of engineers to develop high-fidelity, cost-effective training and simulation software products and components for defense applications.

About Serious Simulations

Serious Simulations LLC, an Orlando-based Veteran Owned simulation business, designs immersive training systems using custom made hardware and software components for specific skill training needs, combined with motion tracking systems, wireless communications devices, wireless display technologies and commercial game engines. It produces wireless video technology and wireless head/helmet mounted displays (HMDs) with very high resolutions and wide fields of view.  The industry-leading wireless HMDs, and wireless VR add-ons, are available separately or as components of Serious Simulations’ professional grade VR training systems for military, police, emergency responders, and professional grade entertainment experiences.  The company is a partner in the Open Source Virtual Reality (OSVR) network. For more information, visit our web site at www.serioussimulations.com