By Ann Roosevelt
Microsoft [MSFT] took another step forward into the defense and aviation arena with its simulation ESP Platform, announcing two new industry parners: Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Flight Safety International.
“As a simulation platform we can really help reduce the significant investments that these partners are making when they’re basically required to maintain their own multiple proprietary visual simulation systems,” Shawn Firminger, studio manager, Microsoft ACES Studio, told Defense Daily. Related to that, is based on our unique pricing model, it’s very cost efficient. It’s flexible. It’s going to be very easy to deploy solutions on top of it.”
Microsoft sees this as a “game changer” that will “accelerate the COTS-based movement,” he said. The intent is to provide a common simulation platform consistent across all industry.
In late November, Microsoft announced new partners including SAIC [SAI], Northrop Grumman [NOC] and CAE [CGT] that will build custom visual simulation solutions on the ESP platform (Defense Daily, Nov. 29). That announcement followed the Nov. 14 debut of Microsoft ESP that brings immersive games-based technology to training and learning, decision support and research and development modeling for military and commercial aviation organizations.
Firminger said companies can see the ESP platform’s capability as a rapid prototyping device where they can use their own expertise and quickly build on the ESP platform for a customer’s requirement.
“This group has been around over 25 years, building simulations for that length of time, building and delivering them to the entertainment world, and we’ve seen seen our technology change a lot,” Firminger said. “We use technology to solve our business problems and it’s really following customer demand.”
Microsoft sees the opportunity to enter the market with the ESP as a common simulation platform.
“We at Microsoft know how to build platforms, pretty robust platforms. ESP version 1 is actually pretty far along and pretty advanced,” he said.
Microsoft ESP consists of an underlying PC-based simulation engine built on the nearly 25 years of knowledge for Flight Simulator, with development tools and content that models the entire Earth. High fidelity 3D visual imagery is part of it, so is a configurable user-adjustable weather system, accurate vector data and geography that can be custom tailored.
An After Action Review feature allows recording and review of every action made during a session. Additionally, custom missions can be created to tailor simulations to specific training goals.
“We provide a base world to start, with a common production pipeline,” Firminger said.
On the entertainment side of the business, for Flight Simulator, one can find more than 200,000 different pieces of content for new functions that can be added to the game– aircraft, scenery, weather. These have been created and shared by the community. It’s possible something similar could evolve in the defense area.
Since the November roll-out, there’s been a lot of interest in the ESP Platform’s potential, he said. Earlier this week he spoke at a conference and was “swamped” afterward by a variety of people wanting to know more.
“Once people understand what we’re doing and have a chance to see the tech, that’s when the lightbulb goes on,” he said.
The software can be used by foreign customers, he said. “We’ve intentionally done that.”
The way it works is that Microsoft licenses the same basic ESP Platform to customers and partners, but retains ownership, while customers build their unique solutions on the platform.
“We really think it will open up and expand the opportunities for new training scenarios,” he said. For example, not only for simulations to train pilots, but also for aircraft maintenance personnel. “Now there are opportunities to think about how to use modeling and simulation.”
Research now out indicates that today’s workforce, entering the market, or the under 40 group, is very familiar with immersive technology, he said. For that group, if simulation is introduced into the learning environment, scores go up a minimum of 20 points.
Firminger said while Microsoft ESP version one focuses on civil and military aviation training and decision support, Version Two will add support for vehicle operator training, ground operations and other scenarios. Next, the team will focus on building out an even richer and more complex set of location details–on the water, under the water, inside buildings and cities–gradually moving more deeply into core scenarios that enable Microsoft ESP partners to meet the needs of their customers in this growing market.
The platform is not the solution, but an important piece of the work. The customer must solve the problem, “tap into the ecosystem we want to see flourish around the platform so solutions can be created,” Firminger said.