IED Detection: One Skill Gaming Does Not Improve
IED Detection: One Skill Gaming Does Not Improve
October 29, 2009
While gamers might be adept at flying drones and operating other types of high-tech military weaponry, they finish behind two other groups of personnel when it comes to being skilled at detecting improvised explosive devices (IED).
The Los Angeles Times reports that military personnel with hunting backgrounds or those who come from tough urban neighborhoods surpassed gamers when it came to spotting explosive devices.
Why is this the case? Gamers “do not seem to have the depth perception and peripheral vision of the others, even if their eyesight is 20/20” states the article. Army Sgt. Maj. Todd Burnett added:
Video game enthusiasts are narrower in their focus, as if the windshield of their Humvee is a computer screen. The gamers are very focused on the screen rather than the whole surrounding.
Sgt. Maj. Burnett said that the best class of soldiers he’s ever seen at detecting IEDs were members of the South Carolina National Guard, nearly all of whom are from rural areas and participated in hunting.
Thanks Sean!
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Posted 11/21/09 at 09:44pm
Flamespeak: I still think military personell, killing other military personell, on a military complex should be handled by military courts.
Flamespeak: I still think military personell, killing other military personell, on a military complex should be handled by military courts.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:43pm
Flamespeak: I could see this a mixture of the two charges rather than just one or the other.
Flamespeak: I could see this a mixture of the two charges rather than just one or the other.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:43pm
Flamespeak: I think this was mainly a person who snapped, but evidence is showing he definitely had strong inlinations to islamic-extremism.
Flamespeak: I think this was mainly a person who snapped, but evidence is showing he definitely had strong inlinations to islamic-extremism.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:41pm
Flamespeak: People are trying to claim that Hasan's actions were not terrorism. I don't jump on the 'terror train' like others, however
Flamespeak: People are trying to claim that Hasan's actions were not terrorism. I don't jump on the 'terror train' like others, however
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:38pm
mentor07825: Britain certainly does deserve it! And the French! God damn it, it was a hand ball!!!
mentor07825: Britain certainly does deserve it! And the French! God damn it, it was a hand ball!!!
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:34pm
ZippyDSMlee: mentor07825:Well Brittan dose deserve it....
ZippyDSMlee: mentor07825:Well Brittan dose deserve it....
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:33pm
ZippyDSMlee: Alyric:I don;t hasliburton having to pay back billoins... don;t you love it when the rich roll over the goverment without a care?
ZippyDSMlee: Alyric:I don;t hasliburton having to pay back billoins... don;t you love it when the rich roll over the goverment without a care?
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:32pm
mentor07825: I say we nuke the whales, for the benefit of both mankind and the environment.
mentor07825: I say we nuke the whales, for the benefit of both mankind and the environment.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:28pm
Austin_Lewis: I say we try Al Gore too. I always said he was in on the racket.
Austin_Lewis: I say we try Al Gore too. I always said he was in on the racket.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:16pm
Alyric: The leaked information proves these organizations knowingly defrauded governments (i.e., taxpayers) out of billions of dollars. Yet there will probably never be a trial.
Alyric: The leaked information proves these organizations knowingly defrauded governments (i.e., taxpayers) out of billions of dollars. Yet there will probably never be a trial.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:15pm
Flamespeak: working on other things makes me angry. I might have had a jet pack by now. :p
Flamespeak: working on other things makes me angry. I might have had a jet pack by now. :p
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:14pm
Flamespeak: Just thinking of all the time and manpower wasted to try and make things emit less CO2 emmision that could have been spent
Flamespeak: Just thinking of all the time and manpower wasted to try and make things emit less CO2 emmision that could have been spent
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:07pm
Alyric: @Zip: FYI, the construction of solar panels puts out more pollution than any form of energy production. To say nothing of the toxic components of the panels that cannot be recycled.
Alyric: @Zip: FYI, the construction of solar panels puts out more pollution than any form of energy production. To say nothing of the toxic components of the panels that cannot be recycled.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:04pm
ZippyDSMlee: I know I know not the point.
ZippyDSMlee: I know I know not the point.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:01pm
ZippyDSMlee: Mmmmmm box the panels in so you can see them from the side or below?
ZippyDSMlee: Mmmmmm box the panels in so you can see them from the side or below?
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:01pm
Flamespeak: and ways that aren't really hurting anything, then let them instead of forcing change on them.
Flamespeak: and ways that aren't really hurting anything, then let them instead of forcing change on them.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:00pm
ZippyDSMlee: Ya make it a optional program, you get the 10% and no recoup on engery gained from the panels :P
ZippyDSMlee: Ya make it a optional program, you get the 10% and no recoup on engery gained from the panels :P
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:00pm
Flamespeak: I am not saying that using solar panels is a bad idea, but if a town's populace wanted to keep their old look
Flamespeak: I am not saying that using solar panels is a bad idea, but if a town's populace wanted to keep their old look
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:00pm
Flamespeak: might as well outlaw all muscle cars and make it so no parts could be made for them
Flamespeak: might as well outlaw all muscle cars and make it so no parts could be made for them
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:00pm
ZippyDSMlee: Meh balance it out raise the rates by 10% t so they can put panels out.
ZippyDSMlee: Meh balance it out raise the rates by 10% t so they can put panels out.
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Comments
Hunters are good at spotting things? Stop the freakin' presses...
I think that's the funniest comment I've seen on gamepolitics.
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Debates are like merry go rounds. Two people take their positions then they go through the same points over and over and over again. Then when it's over they have the same positions they started in.
What about hunters who also game? I mean, I can stalk a deer for as far as I want, but I can also slaugther zombies in L4D (zomebie genocidist right here). On a related note, hell yeah hunters and tough urban youths.
I wonder if there's any difference between console and PC gamers? The relative distances from the screens probably changes the level of perception.
Also, my peripheral vision is great, because as the resident socially inept kid in elementary school, I constantly had to be aware of potential wedgies and wet-willies from any direction. Even today I get a little jumpy if someone comes up on me between five and seven o'clock. I guess today's modern hip call o' duty gamerz don't have to develop those skills, tho.
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The Mammon Philosophy
I'm going to have to take the sarcastic route as well... Hunters and kids from rough neighborhoods have better peripheral vision and are better at spotting things!? And people who mostly stare straight ahead don't!? NO WAI!
In all honesty, I don't think my own peripheral vision would be as great as it is if it wasn't for years of marching band. If you screwed up there you'd end up being the jerk who steps all over the guy that just passed out from dehydration or the idiot who backs up too far and rams into the person behind you.
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http://www.whatnottodo.tk
Yeah, this article states the obvious, but I have to credit it for being truthful. It's better than making up lies.
I play video games, probably too much (I think that would be obvious), and I also march in a band. I'd agree, it does help out with peripheral vision, and I've even partially learned to spread my eyes apart so that one can follow the drum major while the other can keep track of pretty much everything else. It's kind of necessary, because my director and seniors will bestow upon me the gift of running for every mistake I make. Trust me, after a few 'coming to Jesus' meetings (run laps 'till you see him!), you'd be surprised at how fast evolution can take place!
Uh.... what? So a "hunter" in a Humvee can somehow see things a normal alert person can't see out the Humvee's windows...??? Do they have X-ray vision to see through the Humvee's floor perhaps? What a stupid article.
I would actually put this at an even simplier cause....
In games, most games are designed with some kind of 'wink' on interactable objects. Gamers learn to spot things that matter by clues designers put in for them.
You're missing the main fault in their premise...
Just because someone is a "gamer", doesn't mean they aren't a "hunter". Not to mention there are a lot of other professions that rely on observation skills. Heck, I used to be a Lifeguard and we were trained to spot people in distress out of huge crowds of people, that's pretty far off from being a "hunter". And yes, I am a gamer too.
Now, see, THAT'S research. Observation is beaten down as valid research, but it truly is. Especially when you know so much about those you are researching.
Peripheral vision, when it comes to computer/video games, is really artificial. You have the limits of the screen in front of you. Moving the "Camera" is turning your head. That's not peripheral vision.
Now, supposedly (and I don't have the money or the inclination right now), having 3 or more monitors widens the view. But unless those two side monitors are on either side of your head, technically, you're still looking straight on, unless you're vision limits you to the middle monitor and only portions of the side monitors.
I'm not sure how VR glasses worked for normal vision folks. they were crap for me.
The best environmental equivilant gaming system would be a monitor, from floor to ceiling, a full half circle around the room that you would stand in front of (if you drew a straight line from each end of the monitor and stood at the middle of that line). I really don't see a better system for providing true peripheral vision support from a computer/video game. And you'd probably have to extend the monitor up and down to get those perspectives as well.
Other than that, live simulation training is the only way to train for the real world.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
http://www.facebook.com/nightwing2000
Nightwng2000 is now admin to the group "Parents For Education, Not Legislation" on MySpace as http://groups.myspace.com/pfenl
LOL!! If you already know how to avoid stepping in all that dog shit while walking in the 'hood, then you're a better candidate than a gamer for avoiding stepping on a IED in Iraq. Sweet.