Virtual reality (VR) surrounds the lives of civilians and military members serving the Department of the Navy every day. Whether a person goes to the movie theater, sporting event, theme park or plays video games in the comfort of their home, VR becomes something tangible and real in their lives. Now, the intricacies of VR and virtual environments (VE) are becoming a part of training, shipboard modernization, equipment installations and operational environments facing warfighters today.
Last year, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) formed the three-dimensional (3-D) Ship Scanning Team to attack shipboard configuration management and to find new innovative techniques to further the SPAWAR mission of accelerating and streamlining delivery and installation of assets to the fleet and to reduce the cost of normal operations. Utilizing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technology, the team took accurate 3-D representations of three operational ships scheduled for upcoming command, control, communication, computers and intelligence (C4I) installations. The three ships included the amphibious transport dock ship USS San Diego (LPD 22), the guided-missile destroyer USS Truxtun (DDG 103) and the amphibious transport dock ship USS Anchorage (LPD 23).
The SPAWAR ‘scanning team’ received the 2016 Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Innovation Award in the category of Automated Process Development in a prestigious ceremony officiated by Mr. Thomas Dee, performing the duties of the Under Secretary of the Navy, on 5 June 2017.