Alternate “Realities”: Military Applications in the Metaverse Era
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Abstract
This article is intended for 3 primary purposes. The first is to examine different types of realities and their military applications. The second is to explore the rise of the metaverse and its prospects for military use, and the third is to analyze and indicate possible opportunities as well as approaches for the development of Thailand’s defence capabilities through Alternate Realities and Metaverse.
This article divides Alternate Realities into 3 main categories, which are Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality. All three categories of alternate realities provide enhancement to defence capabilities in 2 major areas, military training and warfighting. The paper also looks into an upward trend of virtual technology, in which the metaverse is taking on a prominent role. Metaverse has a potential for broader defence implications and can emerge as a key enhancement for battlefield effectiveness with intra-military communication. The advancement in both Alternate Realities and Metaverse has offered a way for Thai armed forces to effectively and efficiently train and operate with a simultaneous intra-military communication as well as an interconnectivity among friendly forces.
Thus, for the full potential of military applications of Alternate Realities and Metaverse to be realized, the article recommends that the Thai defence sector should take 3 key approaches, which are to prioritize digital interoperability of military equipment and systems, to seize an advantage of commercial-off-the-shelf technology, and to promote and enhance system integration capability within the defence sector.
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