Augmented and virtual reality for humanitarian mine action EOD training

SUMMARY: At the Golden West Design Lab in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, our team has been working on applying virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies to explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) for approximately three years with the support of the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA). This work grew from our success with the Advanced Ordnance Training Materials (AOTM) program, which produces detailed and functioning training aids of ordnance fuzes using 3D printing technology. The AOTM products were able to provide new capabilities to training in programs across the world, and we believed VR and AR might offer similar opportunities.