Police using track & sim to train
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 11:51 am
https://www.gamereactor.eu/news/602353/ ... s+driving/
On the BBC news yesterday, but this gives more detail.
PlayStation has partnered with the UK's Lincolnshire Police Force in order to offer supplementary training to specialist police drivers using upcoming sim racer Gran Turismo Sport, the latest in the long-running series of racing games.
Officials from GT Academy, a racing body that has trained racers for close to a decade, coached officers using an in-game regime to see if it could help their driving ability, supplementing their training they've already received as part of their job.
This was done by registering an initial lap time at the Silverstone track before the coaching, including the new VR mode, designed to improve and showcase efficiency. Issues like oversteer and braking late were identified, and the game showcased correct techniques and best practice instead. After said training, a second lap was undertaken by the officers, with significantly improved results, shaving 14 collective seconds off of their lap times, all showing improvements in areas like safety and stability.
Laurence Wiltshire, Project Director of GT Academy, said: "GT Academy has proven that the skills learned via Gran Turismo directly transfer from the virtual track on to the real one. This is thanks to the incredibly accurate simulation of the tracks but more importantly the simulation of the cars, their physics and how they handle. GT Sport is the best in the series history and, with the addition of VR mode, offers the most realistic driving simulation yet. It's one thing to train racing drivers but the idea that a game could help officers respond to emergencies more efficiently is mind-blowing."
Shaun West, Assistant Chief Constable, Lincolnshire Police, commented: "There will never be a replacement for traditional training methods but we are always looking for innovative ways to supplement the learning of our officers and staff. If Gran Turismo can help to train world class racing drivers, then we were keen to explore whether it could offer anything to our officers and help expand the way we think about evolving and refreshing our training methods."
Of course this isn't a substitute for police training, but it's great to see the game being used to improve the driving techniques this way. GT Sport itself will be released on October 18, this Wednesday. Will you be improving your own virtual racing this year?
On the BBC news yesterday, but this gives more detail.
PlayStation has partnered with the UK's Lincolnshire Police Force in order to offer supplementary training to specialist police drivers using upcoming sim racer Gran Turismo Sport, the latest in the long-running series of racing games.
Officials from GT Academy, a racing body that has trained racers for close to a decade, coached officers using an in-game regime to see if it could help their driving ability, supplementing their training they've already received as part of their job.
This was done by registering an initial lap time at the Silverstone track before the coaching, including the new VR mode, designed to improve and showcase efficiency. Issues like oversteer and braking late were identified, and the game showcased correct techniques and best practice instead. After said training, a second lap was undertaken by the officers, with significantly improved results, shaving 14 collective seconds off of their lap times, all showing improvements in areas like safety and stability.
Laurence Wiltshire, Project Director of GT Academy, said: "GT Academy has proven that the skills learned via Gran Turismo directly transfer from the virtual track on to the real one. This is thanks to the incredibly accurate simulation of the tracks but more importantly the simulation of the cars, their physics and how they handle. GT Sport is the best in the series history and, with the addition of VR mode, offers the most realistic driving simulation yet. It's one thing to train racing drivers but the idea that a game could help officers respond to emergencies more efficiently is mind-blowing."
Shaun West, Assistant Chief Constable, Lincolnshire Police, commented: "There will never be a replacement for traditional training methods but we are always looking for innovative ways to supplement the learning of our officers and staff. If Gran Turismo can help to train world class racing drivers, then we were keen to explore whether it could offer anything to our officers and help expand the way we think about evolving and refreshing our training methods."
Of course this isn't a substitute for police training, but it's great to see the game being used to improve the driving techniques this way. GT Sport itself will be released on October 18, this Wednesday. Will you be improving your own virtual racing this year?