XCTC Experience

Have you ever wished you could replay a moment in your life, analyze your actions (what went wrong, what went right?) and assess what you could have done better? Whether it is kicking yourself over that dumb pick-up line you used last night, going all-in at the poker table with a pair of fives or realizing you should have checked the weather before heading out on that 6 hour hike... If only we could have instant replay in life to review our actions, we could avoid our mistakes next time and also catch the errors made unintentionally!

There are life situations far more critical than what I've described above -things like covert operations, strategic strikes, impossible missions... it is for these scenarios, when preparation and instant replay are life saving tools, that the XCTC system was developed. SRI International has created the XCTC system to allow personnel in tactical situations to practice scenarios while their movements are monitored real-time with 3D visualization tools. The system also allows for a recap of the exercise so that personnel can view their implementation later, step-by-step, to ensure that they are able to execute to order.

Using Crossbow's Cricket Mote platform as the foundation, SRI International has developed a man-pack that takes the place of the soldier's body armor in training or other such standard paraphernalia. Equipped with GPS to provide location outdoors and ultrasonic transducers to  approximate location indoors, the system allows team leaders to monitor their squads movements and reactions to different scenarios as their location is communicated to the beacons set up throughout the training facilities. Both the Department of the Army and the National Guard Bureau are assessing this new training concept to meet the challenges and demands of a country at war. XCTC is a cost-efficient option for delivering effective combat readiness training to National Guard and Army Reserve units at their home station locations when time and money are limited. It is also being used to train first-responder teams such as firefighters and emergency medical personnel. The wireless capability and the ability to transmit 3rd party sensing data real-time gives XCTC its distinction from many other visualization tools.