Ensuring Readiness by Blending VR with Neurophysiology to Provide Pilots More Realistic Spatial Disorientation Training
Aptima Awarded Navy Contract for ‘MASTER’ Portable VR-based System for More Realistic, Immersive, and Engaging SD Training
Orlando, FL – March 10, 2025 – Aptima Inc., a leader in optimizing human performance through innovative technologies, announced today a contract award sponsored by the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCTSD) to further develop “MASTER,” a virtual reality-based system for more realistic and effective pilot training for spatial disorientation (SD).
MASTER (Mishap Awareness Scenario Training for Ensuring Readiness) is a novel immersive training solution that combines virtual reality (VR) to present an array of SD illusion playback videos. This effort will focus on integrating SoarTech’s Wing Mishap Awareness Narratives (WingMAN) as well as a galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) technology to create realistic SD physiological effects and an array of objective and subjective metrics.
U.S. Navy photo by Anne Owens/Released
Spatial disorientation is a leading factor in aviation accidents, occurring when pilots lose their situation awareness and accurate perception of position, motion, and/or altitude relative to the Earth’s surface. The US Department of Defense has traditionally employed a combination of classroom instruction, simulator-based training, and in-flight exposure to help pilots recognize, mitigate, and recover from SD, but current training lacks the realistic effects of SD that can happen in flight. Galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS), a neuromodulation technique for stimulating the vestibular system to create the realistic effects of motion, has been explored for military applications, including in training and pilot simulation.
No cost effective training solution currently exists that can deliver both the SD illusion training scenarios and the neurophysiological effects of SD.
MASTER, initially developed by the Aptima team under prior SBIR contracts with NAWCTSD, combines Aptima’s expertise in physical and perceptual augmentation with its track record of improving human performance through data-driven, scientifically grounded learning systems and experiences for training complex skills.
“Research suggests that, as a pilot, you can better tackle SD when you’ve experienced it before versus experiencing it for the first time in the aircraft,” said Cherrise Ficke, Aptima’s MASTER Project Manager. “MASTER will provide that exposure to pilots so the first time they are experiencing SD will be in a safe environment.”
The MASTER system will provide trainees with immersive, engaging, and portable SD training that not only allows users to experience an SD illusion but will incorporate the ability to replay the illusion. Trainees will be able to revisit and critically assess their SD experiences and performance during training, fostering increased awareness as training evolves.
“The development of this system will also involve iterative testing to calibrate GVS doses to ensure the realistic and safe generation of SD effects for all users,” added Ficke.
To learn more about how Aptima is applying physical and perceptual augmentation to enhance human performance and safety in mission-critical environments, visit https://www.aptima.com/solutions/pas/ppa/.
For more information, please contact aptima_info@aptima.com.
