David Landon, President and CEO of Systems Technology Inc., calls his company’s new virtual and augmented reality training system a “disruptive technology,” since the software and helmet-mounted goggles can be used anywhere—including an aircraft in flight.

Called Fused Reality, the system consists simply of an upgradeable software package that contains a number of scenarios as well as a set of helmet-mounted goggles. Landon said that a trainee can sit in the co-pilot’s seat of an aircraft and view the control panel normally though the goggles, but when he looks out the window, the view will be one of the virtual training scenarios, allowing the training mission to be conducted anywhere. “It makes every aircraft a potential trainer,” he said. “You don’t need a simulator—every airplane becomes the simulator.”

The system uses DoD’s terrain database to develop landscapes, and it some of the training scenarios the company is demonstrating at SOFIC include a pallet drop from a CV-22 and an in-flight refueling mission. Since the inside of the aircraft is viewed normally, the system provides a 360-degree training experience. Landon also said that the system can be networked, so multiple users in different locations can run the same training exercise.

The company recently completed an in flight integration test with NASA and  Edwards Air Force base.