From the same folks who brought you the ‘Call for Fire’ app for iOS, the upcoming ‘Virtual-Shot’ is a virtual shooting environment within a mobile phone application which is combined with a mount system (scope, Pic rail, and pistol).

App

Mount

System mounted to carbine

You can adjust target distance, target moving speed and even wind conditions. Additionally, the app provides shot analytics. It also has mini games and video lessons taught by an ex-Army sniper.

Learn more at virtual-shot.com.

“At the Ready” is a new series sponsored by Angstadt Arms which goes behind the scenes with world class shooters, instructors and industry entrepreneurs to uncover their daily routines, tactics, challenges and motivation. Viewers get to see behind closed doors and learn what makes these individuals tick and pushes them to succeed.

The goal for “ATR” is to share the lives and stories of the many amazing people in the firearms community and help to normalize firearms to the greater community at large. Each chapter of “ATR” will focus on a single person. With new episodes coming out every month.

Chapter 01 profiles Ian Strimbeck of Runenation, a Marine Corp Veteran who embodies endurance and instructs self-defense through perseverance and action. His motto “No One is Coming to Save You” serves as a constant reminder that in troubling times each individual has a personal responsibility to care for him/herself and loved ones. His philosophies and approach to everyday life have served him, and his students, to see the greatness and possibilities within themselves.

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of being introduced to ChimeraXR, a Canadian company that is leading the way in Virtual Reality firearms training.

Helping armed professionals train anywhere, anytimeFounded by a Canadian Forces veteran, ChimeraXR’s system to train shooters is called Mythos which is an offshoot of the live fire and flatscreen simulator-based firearms training he conducted for many years.

Although ChimeraXR probably has a longer list than me, I see the advantages of such a system are myriad.

1. Cost – It’s much less expensive than screen-based firearms training systems. Additionally, you don’t expend any ammunition and you don’t need a dedicated sysadmin/trainer. Theres also no travel costs to training ranges and there’s no need to build up physical training locations to replicate real world targets; all of it can built and adjusted on-the-fly in VR.

2. Safety – You don’t expose trainees to live fire until they are ready. Shooters can also train collaboratively from different locations even during a pandemic.

3. Scalability – Currently, Chimera can connect up to 40 participants in a single environment and they don’t even have to be in the same location.

4. Mobility – The system can be set up in as little as two minutes, allowing you to train anywhere, anytime.

4. Feedback – Shooters get immediate feedback from multiple points of view (including adversary) on how they performed. The are working to collect additional data such as physiological information while under stress.

This is not just a firearms training system. Due to its immersive nature, and ability for multiple users to interact, it’s also a tactics training and mission rehearsal system.

While ChimeraXR’s Mythos system includes an AR-style lower receiver which accepts the user’s upper receiver and enablers, they are working to integrate milsim systems along with other firearms training weapons which may be in use. Considering there are milsim weapons which accurately replicate firearms including blowback and facilitate mandatory magazine changes and simulate stoppages, the training becomes even more realistic.

I spent about half an hour in the training environment and I am very impressed. I was able to move around and engage targets, easily reset scenarios, and watch how easy it is to build new environments on the fly via the toggle and drag and drop menu options. The environment is also ballistically accurate meaning that barriers will properly react to projectiles.

I also learned that it is safe, (as long as you remember that cars and obstacles within the virtual environment aren’t real and can’t support your weight). If you reach the limits of your real world environment such as an actual wall which doesn’t exist within VR, you transition from VR to the real world within your goggles and see the environment as it is.

With so few CQB shoothouses available, this brings training to the shooter’s location. What’s more, the technology can be utilized by armed citizens just as readily as military and law enforcement. With ammunition so scarce and expensive, ChimeraXR provides a realistic training alternative.

Finally, ChimeraXR is a training option for Centrifuge Training customers, with systems already in use in both the US and Canada.