War games
Microsoft is on the war path - at least by proxy - with defense corporation, Lockheed Martin, announcing it has signed an intellectual property licensing deal with the Redmond giant to provide soldiers with better visual simulation technology.
The deal centres around a piece of software called ESP, which Microsoft's Aces Studio originally developed as a visual simulation platform for PC gamers, based on Flight Simulator X technology.
ESP was unceremoniously ditched by Microsoft back in January this year due to financial cutbacks, but it appears Lockheed Martin is performing a Lazarus miracle on it by snapping up the licensing rights.
This means the defense firm can effectively build on the platform and adapt it to its own specific needs, which will likely involve first person shooting, but not so much for weekend gaming fun.
Talking to Network World, Lockheed Martin's vice president of engineering for simulation, training and support, Chester Kennedy, said "the intention is to take current ESP capabilities beyond flight, which is what it has been primarily used for in the past."
"The scope could potentially expand to include ground and civil applications," he said noting that ESP could factor in various types of weather, terrain, lighting conditions, elevation data, textures, 3-D scenery and realistic vehicle and building models.
