A scientist demonstrates a piece of flexible display made with stainless-steel foil.
(Credit: U.S. Army)The U.S. Army has committed to renewing its partnership and providing another $50 million to Arizona State University's flexible-display research facility, the university announced on Thursday.
That brings the Army's total investment since the Flexible Display Center (FDC) started in 2004 to $100 million.
The announcement comes in conjunction with a two-day event in Tempe, Ariz., near ASU, in which the U.S. Army and Flexible Display Center plan to showcase their progress to the public.
So why is the military so keen on flexible displays?
It's all about information and communications...and possibly profit.
A mock-up of a roll-out electronic map provides just one creative example of how flexible displays might be useful to the U.S. Army.
(Credit: U.S. Army)Flexible displays are paper-thin electronic screens that can be bent, mounted onto objects, and sewn into clothing. Soldiers could easily wear them on their sleeves or wrists, and use them to receive critical data in real time in the form of instructions, photos, or maps.
In addition, flexible displays can be made more durable than regular LCD screens, allowing them to get banged around in combat and still work. They also consume only a fraction of the power of LCDs.
That doesn't just make them good for the military; it also makes for cool tech products.
That commercial value is something the military, ASU, and its partners clearly have in mind.
... Read moreClick on the Constant Hawk for more.
In 2004, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld famously told a National Guardsman serving in Iraq, "As you know, you have to go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you want." The soldier had been inquiring about the readiness of Humvees for combat conditions--specifically, the need to "up-armor" the vehicles to provide better protection against enemy fire.
But even if a nation's military has to do the best it can with the gear it has, it can also plan ahead for the gear it knows it will need. That's the dual premise behind the U.S. Army's recent recognition of what it calls its "top 10 greatest inventions for 2006." Fittingly, several of the honored inventions deal specifically with the threat that improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, pose to vehicles--and the soldiers riding in them.
The Brits are using a simulated combat environment developed by the University of Southern California, to treat soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
By bringing to life a "virtual Iraq," complete with the realistic thumps and bumps of battle, the program allows troops to "relive and confront psychological trauma." All this takes place in a graduated manner so as not to re-traumatize, according to the University of Reading's Visualisation Centre.
(Credit:
Pagan Forum)
The Iraq simulation experience is "fully immersive," meaning that patients wear VR goggles that transport them to the virtual battlefield. There, an attending therapist dials up the sights and sounds of roadside bombs, gunfire and low-flying helicopters. Don't forget the stench of battle; bouquets include gunpowder, cordite, burning rubber, Iraqi spices and B.O. The patient takes all this in while talking through the experience with the therapist.
Wearing the headsets does pose the risk of heightened trauma, University of Reading scientist Professor Paul Sharkey admitted. To avoid this, treatment is "carefully controlled by psychologists."
The goal is for "people to manage their emotional responses," Sharkey says. "For example, when a car backfires, you want to help a patient get to the point where he doesn't have a flashback of a gun going off."
The Iraq scenario has been around for a while, having been pieced together and then extensively customized by "recycling" virtual graphics from the U.S. Army combat tactical simulation trainer and the X-Box Full Spectrum Warrior, according to the USC development team.
Burning rubber and B.O.? Sign us up.
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