VENICE BEACH, Calif., - Specular Theory Inc. announced it was awarded a multimillion-dollar Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III contract with the Department of Defense to expand its immersive training products supporting U.S. Air Force B-52, C-17 and KC-135 aircrew training over the next three years. This expansion includes adding more airframes and functionality to the company’s Air to Air Refueling Real-Time Virtual Reality Simulator including Multiplayer capability which allows teams to train together remotely.
This Phase III marks the fourth consecutive Phase III contract to be awarded to Specular Theory following the successful delivery of their SBIR Direct-to-Phase II contract with the Air Force in 2020, where they delivered an immersive training solution to teach Airmen how to perform Air Refueling at the Formal Training Unit (FTU).
“The air refueling training Specular Theory produced has proven so successful that Air Mobility Command has asked to expand to multiple other aircraft. The project was also observed by Global Strike Command and they have asked for the project to be expanded to the B-52. The expansion of this training will absolutely transform the way the USAF trains it’s aircrew members and the feedback from students and instructors alike has been exceptional so far,” says Maj. Robert Buckley, USAF, 97 Operations Group, Chief of Innovation and 97 Training Squadron Operations Officer
This new contract will fund the expansion of Specular Theory’s Experiential Air Refueling Lightweight Simulator (EARL), a lightweight VR sim that runs on commercial-grade COTS and provides high fidelity and accurate training to teach Airmen how to do Air to Air Refueling (AAR), allowing them to learn and practice AAR anytime, anywhere. The EARL AI instructor tracks how a student is performing then guides the student on what to do next, assessing their level of proficiency at Air Refueling. Built with AI Instruction, Adaptive Learning, Multiplayer functionality, Force Feedback controls and a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) plug in, EARL punches above its weight class for delivering a lightweight sim that’s highly interactive, adaptable, and more realistic than any other VR simulator. Future expansion includes the ability to load any aircraft and create any type of training scenario.
Specular Theory was one of the first companies to team up with AFWERX, as a part of the Air Force Team's ongoing initiative to partner with innovative small businesses to source revolutionary defense solutions. With award-winning expertise at the intersection of technology, entertainment and data science, the company has successfully built immersive training experiences that produce measurable results.
