http://www.gamespot.com/news/6137237.html

Quote :

"Technology from America's Army is now being used to train soldiers in "hard" skills like gunnery. In contrast, Foreign Ground is intended to improve users' "soft" skills. The development team's brief was to create a game for peacekeeping troops slated for travel to countries in which they had no prior experience. Historically, these soldiers have faced difficulties in interacting smoothly with local populations: Armed soldiers in an unsettled region confronted with people with whom they share no common language makes for a volatile mix."

Quote :

"There are a few key features the development team is still working on. According to Papworth, the most important item on this list is implementing "personal space" for NPCs so that they will recognize when the player has approached too closely and will react appropriately. The amount of personal space required would be customizable for different cultures."

[Edited on November 10, 2005 at 3:28 PM. Reason : asdf]

11/10/2005 3:27:38 PM

I'M HUNGRY

11/10/2005 3:28:08 PM

that is pretty gay

11/10/2005 4:22:30 PM

In some ways, I think that using a video game to teach "soft" skills is a lot more difficult to simulate and more complex than "hard" skills. Computers afterall are still kind of lousy in simulating the intricacies of human behavior. I'm sure that the Army is trying to work that as well, but from what I understand, our armed forces prefer to use simulated, role-playing exercises to handle this.

Interesting concept nevertheless. It wouldn't suprise me if the US Army hasn't already toyed with this before.

11/10/2005 4:31:40 PM

In a related story France has developed a new game to train it's soldiers, it's called "France: The White Flag". It will focus on reaction speed in putting your hands in the air, quick maneuvering for retreats and throwing your gun to the ground safely.

11/10/2005 4:32:55 PM

throwing the gun to the ground safely is greatly simplified by the new french policy of not supplying ammo to the troops. because they would never use it anyway, the defense dept. was able to save millions of dollars that would have been spent on bullets and instead direct the money towards the creation and production of millions of variations of surrender documents.

11/10/2005 6:47:37 PM

They are also having to face whiplash and shoulder damage of their troops due to improper techniques of putting their hands up.

11/10/2005 9:54:16 PM