At V-Armed, our mission has always been to bridge the gap between classroom theory and street-level reality. We are proud to announce that our technology and approach were recently featured in a deep-dive article by Police1: “What makes modern VR training effective – and how agencies can get it right.”
The article explores a critical question facing law enforcement today: How can agencies prepare for high-stakes, low-frequency events—such as active-shooter incidents or complex de-escalation scenarios—when budgets, space, and time are limited?
Read the full article on Police1 here.
Breaking the “Video Game” Stigma
One of the biggest hurdles in virtual training is the “video game” feel. If an officer doesn’t feel immersed, they aren’t building true muscle memory. As highlighted in the Police1 piece, V-Armed is changing that narrative by focusing on submillimeter accuracy.
Raymond McPartland, V-Armed’s Chief of Operations and a 24-year NYPD veteran, explains in the article that “headset-only” solutions often miss the mark. They only track head movement. V-Armed, however, tracks the entire body.
“Where are your feet positioned outside of a door? What did your hands do?” asks Paul Grajek, our CMO. By capturing every nuance of an officer’s movement and weapon handling, we provide instructors with the data they need for a truly objective after-action review.
Solving the “Location Problem”
Finding realistic training venues—schools, movie theaters, or courthouses—is a logistical nightmare for most departments. Through our partnership with agencies, V-Armed creates hyper-realistic digital twins of these exact locations.
The Police1 feature details how we go beyond just visuals:
- Sensory Immersion: Incorporating smells (like ammonia for drug lab scenarios) to trigger realistic physiological responses.
- High-Stakes Feedback: Utilizing vibration or electrostimulation haptics so that participants feel the “consequences” of being hit, raising the stress level to match real-world conditions.
- Biometric Data: Measuring cognitive load and stress levels to see how quickly an officer is processing information under pressure.
Scalable Solutions for Every Agency
Whether you are a large metropolitan department or a small rural agency, the Police1 article emphasizes that effective VR must be accessible. V-Armed offers everything from large-scale installations for 10+ simultaneous users to portable systems that can be deployed from the back of a squad car.
As McPartland puts it in the article: “My goal is that you get out of it, wipe your brow a little bit and get a little sweat off of you and say, ‘Wow, that was intense.'”
See the Future of Training
We are honored to be recognized by Police1 as a leader in the evolution of police training. Our goal remains the same: to ensure that when an officer faces their toughest day on the job, it isn’t the first time they’ve “been there.”
Want to see the technology mentioned in the article? Schedule a V-Armed Demo Today.
