Enhanced Decision Support for Tactical CBRN Operations (EDS TACO)
How can we empower trainees with near-practical experience without real world exposure to environmental threats?
EDS TACO
Human-System Engineering

XR in today’s world

Government, industry, healthcare, and academia industries are integrating extended reality (XR) user interfaces, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR), to improve educational experiences and productivity, streamline the development process, and much more.

With decades of experience working with Situational Awareness, Autonomy, Guided Inspection, Simulation & Training and Human-Centered research, Draper uniquely corners the XR market. Draper has developed an AR prototype to address a difficult warfighter challenge. The Enhanced Decision Support for Tactical CBRN Operations (EDS TACO) technology has provided a way to limit their exposure to environmental threats, while still providing adequate training in threat detection and navigation.

EDA taco
Closed-loop, team-based EDS TACO training solution.

How EDS TACO Works

EDS TACO leverages the Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK) platform, CBRN Plug-In, and HoloLens technology. The closed-loop system can be used to provide effective virtual training in real world scenarios with an associated sensing technology.

EDA TACO
‘How it works’ – Seamless communication between AR and Android TAK interfaces.

EDS TACO empowers trainees with near-practical experience without real world exposure to environmental threats. Instructors create simulated scenarios by placing VR sources across a real environment for trainees to interact with, providing them with virtual sensor readings as they move throughout the space. Through this training, they learn to visualize the invisible threat using the sensor readings, establish a digital footprint of the search area, and navigate the threat safely.

With the HoloLens system, sensor readings are displayed on a persistent virtual dashboard that is overlayed across the user’s sight picture of the surrounding environment, much like a first-person perspective video game. This eliminates the need to look back and forth between a handheld sensor display and the target at hand. A natural gesture interaction interface also provides quick access to create scenarios, adjust settings, and run sessions.

Real-time communication between the HoloLens and ATAK systems allows instructors on the network to monitor student progress through the environment by visually tracking heat crumbs on a 2D overhead map on their Android device. 

Why it Matters

Keeping warfighters safe is a top priority here at Draper. We develop innovative solutions to ensure they are equipped and trained to accomplish their missions across the globe.

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE.