Game developer Zombie Studios (Spec Ops and Shadow Ops) is using video game technology to create a Convoy Skills Engagement Trainer for the Army. The final product, created under a $100,000 contract, will have six to eight screens that form a 360-degree view of a virtual world. Trainees would mount a real Humvee sitting inside the circle of screens and then train through missions involving roadside bombs, snipers and other insurgents.

John Williamson looked relaxed as his Humvee sat on the side of the road, even though he eyed a broken-down truck not far ahead and knew that in a moment it would explode, ripping up one of the vehicles in Williamson's Army convoy.

Sure enough, the lead Humvee in his convoy sped past the truck, which exploded, causing the military vehicle to slump to one side, two tires flattened by the insurgents' roadside bomb.

The scene soon disappeared from three giant screens in a darkened basement of a downtown Seattle office building.

It's the home of Zombie Studios, a video-game-development company Williamson heads, where developers are pioneering a project to use consumer electronics and video-game technology to create the "Convoy Skills Engagement Trainer" under contract with the Army.

The goal is to train troops to identify improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, and better respond when a convoy vehicle is attacked and ultimately save lives. IEDs are the leading cause of death among U.S. soldiers in Iraq, according to the Defense Department.

Video Game Firm Crafts Simulators for Troops [Seattle Times, thanks legbadog]