Landing an F-18 Hornet on the CVN-21 “carrier of the future” can be done today thanks to Microsoft and Northrop Grumman. The sole downside of such a scenario is that the landing process is virtual, made possible only by a combination of technology involving Microsoft ESP, Virtual Earth and Microsoft Surface and the Northrop Grumman’s Command and Control Mission Rehearsal (C2MR). However, it's just a single example of what Microsoft's visual simulation platform is capable of, and the company is promising future capabilities as well as new visual simulation solutions with the next generation of the platform.

The Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) 2008 was the stage where Microsoft delivered a taste of the next generation of ESP. Microsoft ESP 2.0 is the successor of the version introduced earlier this year, a release that marked the evolution of immersive game-based technology into a comprehensive platform with its own visual simulation engine, realistic content captured from locations worldwide, and even the tools enabling developers to build applications on top of the product.

“Government and military organizations are looking to augment traditional readiness programs with affordable, powerful and portable simulation solutions,” explained David Boker, senior director of business development for ACES Studio at Microsoft. “Microsoft ESP transforms how people learn and organizations plan and prepare by enabling partners to rapidly add scenarios, change out variables and integrate different technologies into their synthetic environments.”

Come January 2009, Microsoft ESP will be made available via single-client licenses of $899 per item. At the same time, the software development kit for ESP will come with a price tag of just $99. In this regard, the software giant has applauded from the get-go the cost savings synonymous with adopting Microsoft ESP, especially since the software development platform comes with support for Windows-based commercial off-the-shelf hardware and software products.

At this point in time, Microsoft has only disclosed two of the new capabilities of ESP 2.0, promising that more have been added. ESP 2.0 will enable visual simulations for ground-vehicle operations and combat scenarios involving air and ground warfighters. On top of this, support for multi-channel displays will take ESP 2.0 simulations into a full panoramic visual environment.