6 minute read
TRAINING: VIRTUAL SHOT
VIRTAULLY DYNAMIC
CONTINUING OUR COVERAGE OF THE VIRTUAL-SHOT TRAINING SYSTEM THIS MONTH JASE TAKES A VIEW ON THINGS PRACTICALLY FROM A MILSIM PERSPECTIVE, AND LOOKS AT WHAT MAY BE GAINED BY TRAINING WITH IT.
In the world of airsoft innovation there hasn’t REALLY been too much in the last few years in real terms. Things like Jeftron Leviathon and the Gate Titan offer a lot of functionality with their trigger systems but in my opinion things have stagnated a wee bit with technology only pushing the sports boundaries in certain areas, and let’s face it, the majority of players are still running AR and AK platforms with V2/V3 gearboxes. So where do we turn when we want something new and exciting?
From a MilSimmers perspective the gas and electric platforms that we have offer sufficient performance, so where do we turn to next; for me, that’s training to use those platforms optimally, and although there are many “real” training tools and systems out there, what is there for us, and where is that new technology? Last month I was handed a box from Australian company Virtual-Shot. Had my complaints of lack of innovation been answered?
Story time; Virtual Shot was the brainchild of one of the founding members back in 2010 while serving as an infantry officer in the Australian Army. With the constraints on range time and training, he wanted to find a way of easily bringing weapons training to the soldier, the end user who really needs to keep on top of their game.
So in 2015 after leaving the Army and setting himself up with a new career in software development, he pushed forward with his vision of Virtual-Shot (VS), and what we have today we can thank Daryl (that founder), Matt and Simon for, and all of their years of military experience can be felt within this training app.
GETTING YOUR APP ON
The unboxing bit; inside the box is a mounting system so you can add your mobile phone to the top rail of your RIF to which has an optic built into it to give you a real life feel to what you are shooting at downrange. The app can be downloaded from the Play Store or the Apple App Store.
Once you have downloaded the app onto your
device you can then add the mount to your RIF’s top rail and pop in your phone and finish setting up the phone to the mount’s optic. Once you have done all of this you can then add a battery to your AEG. The reason for putting in a battery is to be able to dry fire the AEG because this app uses the phone’s Mic to pick up on the cycle of your gearbox once you pull the trigger. The VS team do say;
‘’Virtual-Shot uses both the phone’s sensors and microphone to detect the dry fire sound of real guns, air guns, airsoft, paintball and gel blasters. The sound detection algorithm will detect pretty much anything that makes a click sound when dry firing. Virtual-Shot is a dry fire training system, this means that you can use Virtual-Shot on any (platform) that you can dry fire on (rifles, pistols, air rifles, airsoft rifles, paintball guns, gel blasters... pretty much anything that can be dry fired.’’
Now, with all of the above done and you have found a safe place to train, run the app as normal and you will be greeted with a few options. To start my Virtual Shot adventure I opted to look at the ‘Skills Development’ section where there are 6 training videos and 10 levels to master and hone your skills. I was really taken back by the real sense of teaching from the tutorial videos that play on the far side of the screen while you take in the information given and adapt to the app. It was really nice to have these little touches incorporated into the app.
VIRTUALLY DOWNRANGE
I spent an hour or so plinking off in the Open Range, Standard Range and Static Targets/Moving Targets. Within the architecture of the game there are options to engage in short and long distance shooting, mechanical ranges with 6 different scenarios, my favourite, obviously, being the Counter Terrorism levels.
Once you have had time to get your eye in and get a feel for the application, you can try your hand at a few of the games. In total there are 5, Junkyard, Hunting, Zombie Survival, Zombie Level and Blackhawk Down. I’ve had a pop at all of them and my two favourites here are Hunting and Blackhawk Down, both really enjoyable little games.
In airsoft we encounter many dynamics, the two main ones for me while playing are shot drop off and the wind, all affect us while we try to manipulate the weapon system for the perfect shot.
Can Virtual Shot help the average airsoft player? Yes, I actually feel it can.
The VS team tells us that;
‘’Virtual-Shot will enable you to practice with real bullet drop and wind effects at all distances. Fully customizable ranges where you control the target type, distance, movement and even wind conditions. Advanced shooting analytics that enable you to review barrel movement before and after shots to perfect your breathing trigger manipulation and shot release. Professional built in shot timer so you can break down your shooting and work on improving split times between shots.’’
So with all of this in mind, I found that the Hunt mode really helped me with the understanding and practicing round drop off. I am sure that when I’m next in game, this practice will have helped my judgment, aim and fire to go down in a more professional manner and with correct manipulation of my RIF.
Yes I know in Airsoft we have many other variables like how the hop is set and suchlike, but all training is good training. I am yet to try this out in full kit to simulate how I would operate with a PC on and dry mag changes, but with those options brought into the equation I think that Virtual-Shot could make for a very useful training tool to anyone wanting to brush up on their skill set.
I ran this training application on my iPhone which is a 12 Pro but did also try it on my OnePlus 8t which runs Android. Back to back I did find that the iPhone ran better but I would say that if you want to try the Virtual-Shot app to check what OS your phone runs and that it’s compatible with Visual-Shot beforehand, which you’ll find information on in your App store of choice.
For more information visit www.virtual-shot.com AA
