FATS

We recently got to go check out the virtual weapons training program on base. It's there for soldiers with prosthetics or who whose limbs are recovering from injuries to practice their shooting.

Footage of a training simulation is projected on the wall. Good guys and bad guys skittering around all over the place. Players are given weapons (M16s, M4s, or 9mms) and fire at the screen. The weapons look and respond like real life counterparts. You have to work the safety, reload by ejecting the clip and pulling the ... thingy after slapping the clip into place, it's weighted properly and has realistic recoil. The guns fire infrared lasers at the screen. The hits are detected by a scanner mounted under the projector. On screen you see a red + for a hit, a green + for a near miss, or a little burst of dirt when you hit the ground.

The program has retrained a few hundred injured soldiers. Nearly all have shown significant improvement and the one guy who didn't really had a pretty good excuse. It's used in other places as regular training exercises.

The system is made by FATS Inc.

Dave & Busters totally needs one of these.