Are Gamers Soldiers of the Future?

reply to post by IMAdamnALIEN


Well, the thing is you've touched on a much broader issue.
The conditioning and skills that you acquire while playing modern FPS games does more than just get you set to control drones. They translate to all aspects of combat.

My experience in the games industry led to an offer to work on a military contract. The project was to develop a more usable/reactive drone interface to go hand in hand with a new battlefield robot. I declined because of moral reasons. Big difference between developing virtual weapons and real ones that would actually be used to kill people.

As far as battlefield bots go, I doubt we'll be seeing anything humanoid any time soon. Humanoid robots just aren't practical. Here's something that really will be on the battlefield soon:


By the way, I was talking to some military folks awhile ago that said gamers generally do come in with a sharper skill set than most recruits and are often ideal candidates for drone controllers. However, they often have discipline problems and are likely to wash out because of them.

Also slightly related to the topic... I used to play a lot of BF2 and had a knack for flying Blackhawks. I didn't just fly 'em... I used the built in coms to communicate with my squad, calling out targets to my gunners and giving orders to my crew as to when they should jump out 'n hit the ground. I was once asked which unit I was in by someone who was part of real military unit. He was taken aback when I said I was just a civie. He said I had better coms skills and tactical awareness than most of the people he did the real thing with.

Hehe, here's a vid (really rough, I never got a chance to finish it properly)

Watch the movie "Toys" with Robin Williams and Joan Cusack

res

reply to post by BitRaiser


I also believe humanoid robots on the battlefield are a ways away. However, humanoid robots are ideal for maneuverability. Just think, we evolved into our form because it is well suited for a myriad of different environments. A tank-like robot just doesn't seem like it could do the things a bipedal robot could do ie; jumping, climbing, dodging, being stealthy, quickly able to move about tight spaces. Plus, what if you had a barricade or a wall of some sort to climb over, a conventional robot of today would make a simple task of jumping and climbing like trying to light a match underwater.

No matter what we can conceive of on this forum, a robot of the future might not have any characteristics of either a conventional robot or a humanoid android.

BTW
Battlefield 2 kicks a$$, I am a great heli pilot. It is really hard to command a squad full of 12-15 year old fools though. My username is SuperChronic on BF2 look me up sometime. U2U me if you want to set up a battle!!!

There is a skill vid games can teach, leadership and unit cohesion

Cohesion’s central requirement is personnel stability. Cohesion is a function of continuity, of personal relationships built on trust and common experiences.
Cohesion cannot be built the night before battle. Units cannot be ordered to “be cohesive.” Building strong armies takes years of developing stable, socially cohesive small units. History has demonstrated both the techniques and the results.

www.2ndbn5thmar.com...

In the online games we learn to form groups, and guilds. We learn to find roles within the battle plan and support our fellow guildies. Playing the Cleric I would see this often, new members are taught to be a part of the team and how to best use their skills for the whole of the group.

Don't even ask me to tell the frustration of the guy who kept drifting out of heal range, man that guy kept me moving... OK I am now drifting. The point is he eventually was taught and learned to leverage his abilities with the rest of the group.

Keep assaults really show this, when people start throwing down to protect essential assault and recovery team members you really start getting a cohesive successful unit. And sometimes multiple groups forming a mass attack, and all the messes that come with orchestrating good command and control.

I do know these things fail misserably compared to what would be needed in real combat, but they do teach what works, the end goal, the ability to find what is most effective.


[edit on 26-9-2007 by Redge777]

I know people talk about gamers being the soldiers of the future, controlling UAV's etc, but personally I cant see it. I think if most people are honest, playing online games is not really a testament of someones real skill, simply because of that aweful thing which all online gamers are accustomed too -"LAG". There's been many times I've gotten trounced playing 3D fps games or PES6 all because of the damn lag and it's not like I'm a bad player or have a bad connnection. I have 8mb broadband, which isnt bad.

Iv'e played my friend at PES6 once before online and got beat, yet when playing in front of the same computer, he doesn't even get a look in. 8-0 everytime. There's also nothing worse than creeping up behind someone in counterstrike and empyting the complete contents of your magazine into the back of their head, only for them to turn and around and shoot you dead. "LAG", dont you just hate it.

As I've never controlled a UAV before, I was wondering if there is the same delay when controlling it or is it instantaneous.

IMAdamnALIEN: Yeah cant wait for Crysis, just hope my computer can handle it. Looking forward to UT3 as well. I love games where you work as a team.

[edit on 29-9-2007 by kindred]

I tried to approach this once but got no where and some insults, and I just left it at that. I was trying to bring a correlation between videogames and future combat with advanced civilizations and the preparing of the comming generations for that. I based this on the idea that alot of militaristic videogames have bombarded the scene specially pre-war in real life. All I got was insults and such, but check it out. I really do feel that videogames are playing a much bigger role than most people would like to admit.

Videogames, Global and Interstellar conflict.

Look at what Halo 3 accomplishes.

[edit on 29-9-2007 by souls]

not 'gamers'....

but well trained robotics operators. selected for training & 'enhancement'
....but also having imbedded in their nervous system a "off-on' switch
with a committee having the decision to flip that 'fail-safe' switch
& turn off a rogue operator that has pretty awesome destructive power
at their finger tips.

You make some good points souls. I know there's people who are only too eager to attack and insult you if you try to suggest that violent video games are responsible for an increase in violence in the real world. I still think it's open to debate, but having played against plenty of hormone raged teenagers, I sometimes wonder. They certainly take their gaming way too serious for my liking. As technology evolves it's makes you wonder where all this technology is taking us. What happens when we have computers and graphics in games that are indistinguishable from the real world. Will these same hormone raged teenagers be able to differentiate between what's real and what isnt and how will it affect their moral judgement & behaviour in the real world. What if we develop artificial intelligence that is self aware. Will people still have no qualms about blowing away AI characters in games who have the same feelings and emotions as ourselves. I guess only time will tell.



[edit on 29-9-2007 by kindred]

Check this out.

AMERICA'S ARMY: TRUE SOLDIERS (Xbox 360)
Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, and the U.S. Army announced that Red Storm Entertainment, in collaboration with the Army, will launch America's Army: True Soldiers, exclusively for the Xbox 360™ in the Fall of 2007. The game will be rated "T" for Teen.

The Multiplayer feature is a key attribute in America's Army: True Soldiers with eight maps developed by Red Storm Entertainment and full Xbox LIVE™ Clan support, so teams will be able to quickly jump online and compete. Players will immerse themselves within the true infantry experience of a modern Soldier via the graphical prowess of the Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Warfighter 2™ game engine. As a Soldier in single-player mode, advance through your career and take on roles such as a Rifleman, Grenadier, Automatic Rifleman and Advanced Marksman. Red Storm and the Army are working together to make sure that the America's Army: True Soldiers game play experience is an authentic Army experience.

The America's Army: True Soldiers game accurately portrays the values that guide Soldiers in the U.S. Army, by specifically incorporating gameplay based on mission accomplishment, teamwork, leadership, rules of engagement, and respect for life and property. Just like in real combat, honor and respect must be earned, and in the game, the Play-Lead-Recruit feature allows players to earn respect as they move up through the ranks and become a true leader. Teammates can award points to other team members who play honorably and jump in when the mission is on the line.

America's Army

Iraq war vets protest AA

Wow he will make a good soldier.

Some might think it a bit odd to find an agency like the U.S. military camping out for Halo 3, but the Air Force was on hand at a pre-launch party held yesterday down at the local GameStop in Manchester, New Hampshire. The New Hampshire Union Leader was on hand to cover the event, for which more than a hundred gamers had lined up by 9:00 PM.

U.S. Military camps HALO 3 Party

I wonder why...?

***

No offence I owe my excellent hand and eye coordination to videogames.

[edit on 29-9-2007 by souls]

I hope we evolve beyond violence before mass slaughter is an accepted goal. virtual reality type net based war games are the key to our evolution into a 2 dimensional reality/universe. The universe of light . The universe we will create in our own image; one step closer. The next step in our journey to unity.

I'm a 48 yr. old gamer. Can I go to war too?

I've been playing FPS's since they existed and spent over a year in America's Army online and now enjoy BF2 once a day at least. I truly think they do make people think of war as more of a game but its still very far from the real thing and thats how they will get more recruits thinking they are going into a game but real war there is no respawns.

I still play because its fun for me and I know I am not going off to no war being fought for these stupid reasons and I hope most of the gamers just get to lazy to want to kill for real and besides its a lot more fun to be able to taunt an opponent after defeating him rather then him really being dead.

Of course they are. Why do you think the DoD made this game?
www.americasarmy.com

And yes, FTS games improve reflexes, reaction time, teach players how to work as a team, devise strategies, etc.


But I somehow fail to see how this is a bad thing?

Also, they wouldn't be recording stats, because a lot of gamers are lazy slobs, and I'm sure a fair amount of them would fail an eye exam.