Last Updated: 09/05/2012*

Hearts racing. Palms moist. Jaws clamped.

That is the way most people feel when they’re fully immersed in the virtual reality system called VIRTSIM™. It replicates a variety of demanding scenarios to produce a better trained soldier.

Now, Raytheon is bringing this technology to law enforcement agencies to better prepare them for the unexpected.

More than 500 law enforcement officials in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, from the Texas Rangers to the U.S. Marshals Service, will be on hand to experience VIRTSIM firsthand as part of the initial rollout to the U.S. public safety market. They’ll be attending day-long demonstrations June 4-22 at a Raytheon facility in Plano, Texas.

“We don’t have people training with joysticks in their hands, but with simulated weapons in a full, tactical movement environment,” said Glynn Raymer, vice president of Combat and Sensing Systems for Raytheon’s Network Centric Systems business.

VIRTSIM can simulate situations that would be difficult to train for any other way, from a hostage-taking at the airport to a sniper at a football game. 

Without ever firing a real shot, officers can train in a 360-degree virtual environment, unencumbered by wires or cables. Wearing lightweight goggles, they are completely immersed in a highly realistic virtual scenario while interacting with live people or computer-generated ones.

VIRTSIM is a joint effort between Raytheon and Motion Reality Inc., a Georgia company.

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