Virtual reality (VR) has been a topic which is widely spoken about before, and when it comes to the world of gaming, you know that virtual reality could be the next big thing, as games start to get more and more immersive as time passes by. Of course, one would normally associate VR gaming with a whole lot of equipment required for a decent experience, but it seems that military contractor Northrop Grumman has something far superior to what we have seen so far – the VIPE Holodeck. It might very well be the next best thing to the fictional holodeck you see in Star Trek, but it is actually available in our physical realm, right here and now. What does VIPE stand for? Virtual Immersive Portable Environment, where it will be a portable room where soldiers are able to use in order to get involved in a bunch of specialized training scenarios. I guess this is less of a holodeck and more of a VR cave, if you will.
In fact, a slew of scenarios and environments can be uploaded (reminds us of the Matrix), including diplomatic, combat, and even medical training environments, so that soldiers will be able to train regardless of where they are before embarking on a upcoming mission. You will need to bring in your own uniforms and compatible weapons though. The clever implementation of Kinect sensors alongside other camera modules would do away with the need for VR treadmills and wearable sensors. You just gotta love hologram technology, no? It allows heads of state to deliver a speech and reduces the risk of an assassination, too.