Information security company IPKeys has chosen Emergent's Gamebryo LightSpeed game engine and development platform to create counter-IED simulations for the United States armed forces.

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are homemade bombs that are often used in terrorist acts and in guerrilla warfare. IEDs represent a significant threat for armed forces serving overseas, accounting for an estimated 40% of coalition deaths during the present war in Iraq.

IPKeys' counter-IED simulation will train members of the U.S. armed forces to identify IEDs in virtual battlefield conditions, and can be modified as new types of real-world IEDs are discovered.

"At the tactical level, insurgents have proven skilled at quickly adapting to the U.S. Forces counter-IED procedures by altering their IED designs and deployment methods," said IPKeys gaming solutions senior program manager Daniel Hettrick. "IPKeys did an extensive evaluation to ensure any technology we use provides the capability to rapidly incorporate the very latest tactics, techniques and procedures."

IPKeys plans to integrate Emergent's Gamebryo LightSpeed technology into its existing IED Gaming and Modeling Environment (I-GAME), developed in partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense. Previously, the Gamebryo game engine powered consumer titles like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Civilization Revolution.

"LightSpeed's rapid development iteration capabilities will allow IPKeys to quickly adapt I-GAME's simulations to meet the changing battlefield," said Mark Pappas, president of IPKeys. "More than that, it gives us core technology around which we can build our company and a whole new generation of simulation development. LightSpeed gives IPKeys the ability to create prototypes in just a few weeks and will dramatically increase the number of projects we can address."

By Danny Cowan
October 7, 2009 12:58:00 PM PT