French MoD creates VR planning centre

The French MoD has been progressing with its effort to equip its armed forces with cutting-edge technology and has announced on 12 January the creation of a VR planning centre.

Called VR Decision, it will rely on 3D representations aiming at investigating the impact of immersive technologies on collaborative processes that underpin the decision-making cycle and operational planning.

According to a press release from the French MoD, the aim is to design an experimentation device that will be easily deployed and reproduced.

The MoD pointed out that the use of VR seems to be appropriate ‘to pave the way for devices offering new possibilities for visualisation, interaction, sharing and immersion’.

Although the project will be first tested in a military domain, the virtual planning centre is also intended to be used in civilian contexts.

The project is supported by the French MoD Defence Innovation Agency, ESTIA Institute of Technology and two companies (Manzavision and Immersalis Consulting).

The French MoD has also been paying great attention to quantum technology and has launched a national quantum computing platform in early January.

The system will perform calculations up to a billion times faster than conventional computing. It will be available to researchers and specialists.