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| U.S. Air Force adds electronic whiteboards to briefing rooms |
| by Staff |
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May 18, 2004
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Continuing a conversion to electronic whiteboard technology, more than a dozen U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command bases throughout the country have recently installed interactive plasma overlays in briefing rooms.
The interactive overlays from SMART Technologies have been purchased as part of ACC's Briefing Room Interactive (BRI) initiative, which is designed to assist warfighters in preparing for flight missions. The purchase of these 16 new devices from SMART reseller SJR Associates in Virginia Beach, VA, adds to the 144 existing SMART products already in use in the ACC BRI program.
ACC started the switch from paper briefs and wooden, pull-out display boards to interactive whiteboard technology in 1999. For years, pilots used wooden cabinets in briefing rooms to display mission planning and flight debriefing information. Quick updates were impossible, and pilots often didn't have access to the latest information while planning training missions or debriefing after a flight.
Today, pilots give presentations packed with real-time weather information using interactive whiteboards and overlays. They control computer applications through the touch-sensitive surface of the interactive whiteboard, and can write over any application using either their finger or SMART pen. Briefing materials such as maps, charts and grid displays are quickly created and then reused by student pilots and flight instructors.
"The SMART Board interactive whiteboard is the greatest briefing tool that I have seen in 30 years of working these types of projects," said Ron Carr, ACC's computer-based training manager and command BRI expert. "Not only does it save time and money in preparing our flight crews for flight operations, it also enhances the overall learning experience for all our students and instructors. It helps explain concepts during the briefing and presents complex operations more clearly, enhancing retention and learning among our student pilots."
MORE INFO
SMART Technologies (800) 42-SMART www.smarttech.com
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