p2p news / p2pnet: A computer game funded by the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) is being used to end, “confusing, dangerous situations” for US troops in Iraq.

Developed by the University of Southern California, “Tactical Iraqi is built on top of the game engine for Unreal Tournament, a first-person computer ’shoot-em-up’,” says the BBC.

“In the training tool, though, subjects use communication to resolve situations.”

The idea is to teach soldiers that, “using the wrong gestures can potentially cause offence and escalate already tense situations,” says the story, going on:

“In the program, users must build trust with local people through verbal communication and gestures.”

Key gestures include an up-down movement with the right hand, “to ask someone to slow down,” and tips, such as removing mirror sunglasses, are also given, says the BBC.

“Military personnel also learn that people can approach each other more closely than one normally might in the West” and, “The University of Southern California is also working on other versions of the game: Tactical Pashto, which trains troops in communication specific to Afghanistan; and Tactical Levantine, which teaches them Arabic language and gestures specific to Lebanon and other surrounding areas.”

Also See:
BBC – US troops taught Iraqi gestures, February 17, 2006

This entry was posted on Monday, February 20th, 2006 at 1:36 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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