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Game Technology Helps Drive Military Training
longacre writes "With the gaming industry now spending more to develop user interfaces than the Pentagon, the Army has begun putting all that R&D to good use in weaponry and training. Reversing the traditional role of games attempting to simulate real life killing machines, it is now the weapons makers using gaming technology to make their products more effective. Popular Mechanics notes, 'Already, [Mark Bigham, director of business development for Raytheon Tactical Intelligence Systems] says that Raytheon has been experimenting with Wii controllers to explore the possibilities for training simulators and other applications that require physical movement. Just think, one day, the R&D that Nintendo put into Wii bowling could end up influencing basic training.'"
Just think, one day, the R&D that Nintendo put into Wii bowling could end up influencing basic training.
Are we suppose to be proud or excited by this? Arguably the military is one of the few things left in the US that works well. Get back to me when the government puts a decent size fraction of what they spend on the military into energy research, healthcare, education and career retraining. I'll be thrilled when Wii research ends up in a surgeon's hands than an Air Force cadet.
Leave the gun, take the cannolis.
"Arguably the military is one of the few things left in the US that works well."
Say what?
Trillions of dollars wasted, over a million innocent Iraqis dead, over 5 million refugees forced from their homes, thousands imprisoned and tortured without trial, a puppet regime that will fall the moment the US withdraws and more people hating the US than ever. You might even call it a "cakewalk." I wouldn't, but it sounds like we're not on the same page.
Then there's the thousands of dead US soldiers, tens of thousands injured, hundreds committing suicide each year, and nearly all of them receiving sub-standard care from a neglectful and under-funded VA system. Then there's the little-discussed fact that 1/3 of women in the US military are raped.
Imagine the ways in which we could improve the world, people's lives and reduce the widespread antipathy the US has engendered if only the military were shrunk and kept neatly within its *own* borders. As long as the US government wastes over half its budget on the military and wars there will never be enough money for education, jobs and health care. Those things will bring far more security than illegal wars for oil based on lies.
Forgive me if I don't rah-rah the latest technology that is going to "help" the military. Such technology is only going to "help" increase human misery the world over.
As a veteran soldier, I can honestly give a thumbs-up on this.
If the military finds that incorporating video game technology into weapons will make them more deadly, more reliable, and more accurate in the hands of today's service members, then the money is well spent. We can even use technologies and ideas from VG's to create less collateral damage in the process - precision warfare is crucial on today's battlefield.
Our guys with BOG (boots on ground) don't need this to be effective, but if it helps us complete the missions we have no choice to carry out, with more effectiveness and fewer casualties, then who can really argue that?
What else can happen when an unstoppable force collides with an immovable object?
Exaggerate much?
He isn't exaggerating much, if at all. The budget numbers are always cooked, never more so than by this president. One of the biggest games played is to throw in entitlement programs like social security and medicare into the numbers when it is convenient and leave them out when it isn't. When you look at discretionary spending, it is MORE than 50%. From the article that you cited:
Leave the gun, take the cannolis.
I stand by my statement. He said the US government spends over half of its budget, not over half of its discretionary budget. Clearly that is not the case. In fact it's not even close.
The more you regulate a company, the worse its products become.
Yes! Mod up!!! You can make any unsubstantiated, unsupported claims IF its about how bad the USA sucks ass!!!
From the post above, it sounds like someone has been drinking the daily kos cool aide by the gallon. First, get things straight. The US military works well, very very very well. So well that the whole world has been leaning on the US for military support and protection for the past 60 years. This includes conflicts right there on European soil (Bosnia, reference Srebrenica), and trying to clean up the mess caused by European colonials in Africa, who just packed up shop and said "oh well, not our problem".
The US military destroyed the Iraqi army in less than a week. This is a fact. The botched occupation was not a military plan, but a civilian leadership fiasco. The Bush administration had some twisted day dream that the rest of the world would donate troops and supply to bring democracy to Iraq, and the Bush administration was dead wrong, hence the catastrophe in Iraq. Its not a lack of military power, but a lack of political resolve. I guess you fail to see that, but since I'm talking truths and your playing to anti US sentiment, you'll get modded +5 insightful, and I'll get modded troll/flamebait.
20th century Marxism is not progress...
I see a major problem here: real life doesn't have a respawn.
The tactics you use to play a game like Counter-Strike (a cooperative military FPS) would be very different if you only got one life every 24 hours.
Except that that's a strawman, and as such completely misrepresents the actual argument made.
The majority of technological advances have, historically, been tied to the military, be they medical, computer, or physical. Denying this is to say "hi, I'm a fucking retard."
"You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
I don't know what "certain academic circles" you're in, but I have feeling you're pretty far removed from the topic you're trying to sound intelligent about.
Japan is a fairly "pacificist" nation because it enjoys the full protection of the United States and has nothing to gain from any form of military aggression. Tens of thousands of American troops are stationed there. American patriot missile batteries defend them from possible ballistic missile attacks. American fighters patrol their skies and prepare to defend them from any aggressors. American fleets are always nearby to protect their shipping lanes or repel any attempted invasion.
Japan has a small, extremely well-trained and equipped defense force. They would absolutely love some new F-22s in case other Asian countries decide to get retribution for Japanese atrocities during WWII. Atrocities that would have continued had American soldiers not been properly trained or equipped to beat Japanese soldiers.
It's quite clear that there is a clear threat to Japan's safety in the theater, and will be for the foreseeable future. If the United States stops protecting Japan, Japan will expand its military and tech research and provide for its own protection. I agree that less Japanese scientists have to work on defense-related projects because the two countries are cooperating in this area.
Of course I shouldn't be arguing since you're likely either a troll or an idiot, but, just in case you aren't, which academic field are you in that doesn't benefit from the fruits of military research?
SWM seeks new sig for a brief fling