IT²EC 2024: Babcock unveils new immersive training system

The Babcock Immersive Training Experience (BITE), unveiled at IT²EC 2024, was configured to imitate a bunker control room, equipped with communication devices and video feeds, including from UAVs and social media. (Janes/Olivia Savage)

Babcock unveiled a new modular, immersive training system at the International Training Technology Exhibition & Conference (IT²EC) 2024 held from 9 to 11 April in London.

Known as the Babcock Immersive Training Experience (BITE), the system is designed to provide trainees with a realistic training environment in a modular, transportable 20-foot container, Matthew Chuter, the Babcock campaign director for the Collective Training Transformation Programme (CTTP), told Janes and other media representatives at the exhibition.

The system, co-developed by Babcock and BeaverFit, is equipped with audio, visual, and physical effects that can be increased in intensity and adjusted to suit a range of scenarios, placing the trainees in a realistic battlefield environment. The effects and the trainees actions, including their biometric data, are all controlled and monitored in an external control room. Additional containers or different configurations can also be provided depending on the customer's needs.

Babcock is bidding for the British Army's upcoming CTTP contract, otherwise known as the Army Collective Training Service (ACTS), which aims to deliver a blended live, virtual, and constructive (LVC) training capability. Chuter confirmed that BITE would be part of the team's offering should they win CTTP, although he added that their bid was platform agnostic and therefore dependent on the customer's requirements.

BITE is available to purchase now, Chuter added.