Military Education in Extended Reality: Hybrid War and military force

From 2020 to 2024, the Norwegian Defence University College/Command and Staff College (NDUC/CSC) is running a research and development project to develop an educational program in Extended Reality (XR).

The aim is both to improve teaching and learning at the master’s and bachelor’s degrees at the University College and to provide new scientific knowledge about how students learn through immersive digital educational technologies. Through VR-goggles, the tailored XR-program will pull joint military planners and military officers closer to war, letting them experience full-spectrum war through the eyes and virtual bodies of different actors. 

The aim is to improve our students’ understanding of the utility of force in full-spectrum war, a poorly understood role for military forces. Along the way, the XR-project will provide new knowledge about the opportunities and limitations of developing educational technology in extended reality in higher military education.

The findings will be of direct relevance for NDUC and the Norwegian Armed Forces.