Author: Dai Bin, Ma Qianli, Tong Yiwei
Recently, the "metaverse" has become a hot spot of people's attention.
This edition published the article "Uncovering the "Metaverse" on November 26 last year, and mentioned the concept of "Battlefield Metaverse".
Simply put, the "metaverse" will be the ultimate form of the next-generation Internet, a virtual world that is parallel and isomorphic with the real world.
"Battlefield Metaverse" is the manifestation of "Metaverse" in the military field. It has stricter security and confidentiality standards, more powerful simulation computing capabilities, more real-time fine interaction requirements, and more prominent battlefield time uniformity, Integration of virtual and real, boundary security, decision-making intelligence, performance fidelity.
Imagine, a typical application scenario is presented
By imagining a typical military training application scenario in the future, we can initially draw the outline of the "Battlefield Metaverse"——
An aircraft carrier formation is cruising in a certain sea area.
Suddenly, in the formation command room, the virtual AI staff member projected a virtual figure through the "Battlefield Metaverse" terminal, made a crisp sound, and conveyed the command of the upper-level combat readiness inspection.
The formation commander immediately issued the command of "exercise battle alert" to the formation in accordance with the plan.
The formation combat command system began to automatically receive the combat tasks and battlefield situation sent by the "Battlefield Element Universe" terminal. Except for the personnel on duty at the bridges of the formation to continue cruising and guarding according to the predetermined route, all the rest of the personnel were transferred to the "Battlefield Element". In the battle scene set by the universe".
On the flight deck of the aircraft carrier, all deck operators immediately put on the enhanced terminal of "Battlefield Metaverse" after hearing the "Battle Alert". According to the different login user IDs, the corresponding virtual information in "Battlefield Metaverse" is seamless. It is superimposed on the operator's field of vision to support deck operators to complete relevant practical actions in the real world.
Under the unified command of the flight deck commander, all deck operators carry out virtual and real deck operations for various types of carrier-based aircraft in accordance with the requirements of combat missions and the take-off process of carrier-based aircraft, including refueling, bomb hanging, towing, safety inspection, ejection, Recycling, ammunition emergency disposal, etc.
In the flight briefing room, all pilots of various types of carrier-based aircraft participating in this mission have put on the immersive terminal of "Battlefield Metaverse", entered the cockpit of the virtual world, and waited for their carrier-based aircraft to complete preparations for take-off.
In the cockpit of the virtual carrier-based fighter, an AI assistant with the same configuration as the carrier-based aircraft is confirming the various states of the aircraft to the pilot, and planning the upcoming combat operations according to the received combat tasks.
During the execution of the combat mission, the virtual carrier-based fighter can equivalently feed back situational information such as reconnaissance and detection, electronic interference, and engagement damages of both the enemy and the enemy, which can be used by the pilots to make decisions and take actions in real time...
From the above typical application scenarios, it can be seen that the "Battlefield Metaverse" requires revolutionary breakthroughs in a large number of key technologies as basic support, including VR/AR/MR technology, digital twin technology, cloud computing technology, blockchain technology, high-speed network technology , AI technology, etc.
Construction requires a number of basic conditions
Compared with the "metaverse" that is oriented to the public and reconstructs the network ecology, the "battlefield metaverse" needs to be developed on the actual topology of the military network and the construction results of various military information systems, and has higher requirements on key technical indicators.
Specifically, the construction of a "Battlefield Metaverse" should at least meet the following basic conditions:
- Independent network communication links.
The "Battlefield Metaverse" is an independent form based on the military high-speed network architecture and infrastructure, which is significantly different from the "Metaverse" global access design concept.
Users of "Battlefield Metaverse" need to log in through secure military network nodes in relatively fixed places or areas.
The remote wireless network link is not open to the outside world, and has the ability to resist communication interference and network attacks.
- Strict identity authentication mechanism.
All individual users who access the "Battlefield Metaverse" are required to be military personnel who have passed the confidentiality review and military scientific research personnel with confidentiality qualifications.
The authentication information of all types of users cannot be tampered with, fictitious, or fraudulently used in the "Battlefield Metaverse", and all users' operations will be recorded in detail in the "Battlefield Metaverse" to facilitate the tracking and analysis of the operation and maintenance security department. Any illegal user and operation are not available.
- Diversified user access capabilities.
Users who access the "Battlefield Metaverse" can be divided into individual users, equipment users and system users according to their types.
Among them, individual users are organic individuals who directly enter the "Battlefield Metaverse" activities; equipment users and system users are the key digital equipment and information systems that need to access the "Battlefield Metaverse". Operational control behavior in the world, indirectly participating in activities within the "Battlefield Metaverse".
- A clear command, coordination and interaction relationship.
Different from the high degree of freedom of ordinary users in "Metaverse", all types of users who are distributed in different places participate in specific activities, play designated roles or undertake main tasks in "Battlefield Metaverse", all of which are unified by a single event organizer. Plan, deploy and coordinate.
Before each activity is launched, the organizer of the activity determines the user identification, command relationship, collaboration relationship, and information exchange authority to participate in the activity around the elements required to achieve the goal.
- Immersive real-time interaction capabilities.
Individual users who access the "Battlefield Metaverse" need to log in through the human-computer interaction terminal, and achieve real-time interaction with the "Battlefield Metaverse" and other users in the real world.
On the basis of basic immersive interactive functions and time system functions, terminal devices also need to strengthen the user's operational freedom and sensitivity, so that users can operate and use a variety of weapons and information systems in the "Battlefield Metaverse".
- Powerful AI individuals.
Similar to the "Metaverse", AI individuals with intelligent and autonomous behavioral capabilities will act as permanent residents in the "Battlefield Metaverse", and they can act as virtual red, blue, and third-party entities to participate in combat and training. It can also play the roles of instructors, examiners, staff officers, system operation and maintenance personnel, etc., to assist individual users in decision-making and actions.
- Realistic performance simulation capabilities.
All weaponry and information systems mapped into the "Battlefield Metaverse" need to have real-world equivalent functional performance and consistent operating methods.
Through the signal-level simulation model and efficiency algorithm, the simulation of reconnaissance and detection efficiency, electronic countermeasures efficiency, fire strike efficiency and comprehensive protection efficiency is realized, ensuring that the experience accumulated by individual users in the "Battlefield Metaverse" can guide actual combat operations.
- Flexible scene generation capabilities.
The "Battlefield Metaverse" needs to set the battlefield area for each activity, including the geographical environment, electromagnetic environment, meteorological environment and hydrological environment of the area.
The scene data is required to be more real and accurate, and requires a step-by-step construction and continuous maintenance by an organization with relevant qualifications.
Application, bringing significant benefits in multiple fields
In the future, the "metaverse" may first be applied in the fields of online social networking, online games, and online economy, and become the starting point for the virtualization of human society.
After the completion of the "Battlefield Metaverse", it will have a huge impact on the education, training, testing, research and other application fields of the army, greatly change the original method of organizing and implementing activities, and significantly improve the comprehensive benefits of various military activities. Stimulate the innovation capabilities of military personnel and scientific researchers.
In the field of education, the "Battlefield Metaverse" can play an important role in centralized education in colleges and universities, on-the-job distance education, etc. The teaching party and the taught party can interact and communicate with a high degree of freedom in different places, which is conducive to creating harmony Relaxed teaching atmosphere.
On the one hand, the teacher can use more powerful teaching content to demonstrate the ability to preach and achieve a more vivid preaching effect; on the other hand, the teacher can recognize and understand the problem more intuitively, effectively enhancing personal interest and initiative in self-learning.
In the field of training, the "Battlefield Metaverse" can fully meet the actual combat training requirements in the context of large-scale combat. Participants at all levels can play the role of current or proposed positions in larger-scale, more confrontational, and In a longer-duration environment, they undergo repeated training and assessments, and while tempering combat skills, honing in on tactical coordination, and forging their will to fight, they will apply the accumulated simulated combat experience to actual combat operations.
The evaluation of the training effect will also be more quantitative and intuitive, which is more conducive to the selection of talents.
In the field of testing, "Battlefield Metaverse" can provide a practical background and large-scale testing with equivalent simulation capabilities for new weapon equipment design demonstrations, weapon equipment performance tests, weapon equipment compatibility tests, and weapon system combat effectiveness tests. In the scenario, the virtual and real equipment are integrated into a peer-to-peer environment to operate together, and the changes in various states and parameters of the equipment can be fully grasped, so as to effectively solve the limited number of tests, simple test links, low test background complexity, and combat system construction. Difficulties and other practical problems.
In the field of research, the "Battlefield Metaverse" can provide a public platform for remote deduction and verification for the use of new equipment and innovation of tactics.
On the basis of coordinating local expert resources and centrally mobilizing simulation computing power, virtual AI is used to play the role of combat forces of all parties, conduct continuous deduction and calculation, obtain massive data samples, and mine and analyze knowledge and conclusions that meet the research goals.
During the research process, researchers can also communicate and collaborate with relevant experts to intervene in real time and improve the deduction elements to ensure that the research results can stand the test of actual soldiers.
From the perspective of system architecture and functional characteristics, although the "Battlefield Metaverse" cannot directly affect actual combat operations, it can be used as a backup means for command communication networks in wartime.
When the command communication network is paralyzed by the enemy's network attack or the key node is damaged by the attack, the combat troops can try to access the communication link of the "Battlefield Metaverse" to ensure the most basic combat command and information exchange.