标准2025几十年来，许多领域看似全新的事物或技术实则一直应用于生产实践
一、飞行员正在CAE公司生产的空客A350 XWB全动飞行模拟器内接受训练
早在很久以前，人们就懂得利用空间的立体深度来营造一种虚拟的现实感。这项理念（技术）早在两次世界大战期间就得到了广泛应用，之后又被应用于玩具以及投影仪和立体镜等设备。该技术能够给欣赏不同角度拍摄的照片者以立体感，仿佛在看一个立体的景色。
20世纪10年代，飞行员训练实验大都借助非常基本的机械装置，到20世纪20年代末，第一款真正意义上的飞行模拟器Link Trainer 问世。就外表而言，该飞行器像极了木制机翼机身的玩具飞机，它被固定在一个平台上，电泵的轰隆声中，平台可随意旋转和前后倾斜。
由于飞行员对飞行器不甚了解和熟悉，坠机事件接连发生，在此背景下，美国陆军航空兵团最初购进了6架Link Trainer 飞行模拟器模型。二战期间，美军及同盟国共计五十余万名的飞行员借助一万多架飞行模拟器在陆上进行飞行训练，着重训练基本的飞行技巧。当时飞行员们亲切地称它们为蓝盒子，因而名声大噪。通过影像和交互式控制技术手段，这些飞行模拟器可为飞行员们营造一种虚拟的飞行环境。
二、电子辅助模拟技术的发展
第一代飞行模拟器主要依赖机械系统，通过旋转和倾斜给受训的飞行员以动作反馈。之后飞行模拟器引入电子系统，受训飞行员可以通过仪表盘上的视觉指示以及声音动作进行相应操作。
1954年，美国联合航空公司花费300万美元购进了四架飞行模拟器，这些飞行模拟器上均安装了拥有全套飞机装备的机首。尽管这些飞行模拟器均未被安装到移动平台上，但却被认为是商用航空领域的第一代飞行模拟器模型。
近几十年来，飞行模拟器发展日新月异，性能大幅提升。结构也相对复杂。国际民用航空组织(ICAO) 是联合国民用航空的专门机构，它发布了飞行模拟训练器资格准则手册（ICAO 9625-1-2015年第四版》.
由于各国航空管理组织对飞行模拟器的性能和认证等级要求极高，飞行模拟器的购买成本居高不下。飞行训练器也叫固定式飞行模拟训练器，其价格一般在几十万到几百万美元不等。而全动模拟机也叫移动式飞行模拟训练器，其价格一般在几百万美元到几千万美元不等。
据报道，英国航空公司花费了1000万英镑(合1400万美元)购进了最新的飞行模拟训练器，用于空客公司生产的A380大型客机飞行员的培养和训练。表面看来，飞行模拟器花费不菲，但考虑到每个航班的运营费用（燃料费，维护费以及航班客服人员的工资开销，单体客机每小时飞行需花费六千美元，而宽体客机的每小时飞行费用高达8000美元），利用模拟训练飞行器对飞行员进行长期多阶段的训练仍是性价比最高的一种方式。
三、电气系统和电子系统是飞行模拟器的关键
综上所述可以发现，飞行模拟器功能的实现几乎完全依赖于电器电子系统。Axis飞行器制造商强调指出，其公司推出的全动模拟飞行器（FFS）拥有六个自由度的电动系统，无需气压和液压体系的支。而且在该产品在全行业同类产品中所需保养也是最少的。IEC/TC2:旋转机械装置技术委员会为电动机制定了国际标准。
IEC的许多技术委员会（TCs），诸如IEC TC 20：电缆技术委员会；IEC/TC23：电器配件技术委员会及其分技术委员会；IEC/47：半导体设备及其分技术委员会，或IEC/TC 48:；电气电子设备和电连接件结构等技术委员会制定了许多涉及模拟器上安装的器件国际标准。
四、从航空业到航海运输业
除用于培养飞行员，模拟训练器在航海运输业的应用也越发广泛。模拟训练器可用于培养桥梁专家,领航员，机修工人及其他专业技术人才。
航海运输行业的培训极大地依赖于计算机虚拟现实系统和模拟系统。这类系统往往具有定位和收发反馈的功能，因而适用于模拟火灾或者汽车撞击等紧急情况和机械事故。同时，该类体系也可用于港口集装箱装卸工作吊机操作员的培训以及其他海岸工作人员的培训。
航空培训行业对设备的要求较高，设备价值往往在百万美元级别。但在航海运输行业，这些并不是必须。因此，各类教育机构和海岸基地均能安装使用这类模拟培训器。
五、IMO建议的作法包括模拟器和载人模型
IMO是联合国一个专门机构，负责海上运输安全，防治海洋污染的专门机构。借助仿真模拟技术和载人船舰模型支持并参与海洋运输行业培训。IMO A .960 (23)号决议指出，“培训应包括近距离观察经验丰富的领航员而得出的实际经验，。电脑及实际模型仿真，课堂教学以及其它培训方式都是对实际经验的补充”。
无论是高级机房培训，还是船员和领航员培训，均在模拟培训器上进行。只有在金斯伯格海洋设备公司，塔纳莎国际海洋设备公司等海洋设备制造商开办的特殊学校和中心，或者像负责大西洋，布列塔尼和海外模拟训练器项目的法国飞行员联合组织等此类专业的组织才有这种模拟训练器。
此类模拟训练器借助计算机技术，给受训人员提供了一种令之过目难忘的频显体系，法国飞行员联合组织借助技术化手段，设立模拟训练器项目，实则也提出了一个有趣的观点。
屏幕投影技术是模拟训练过程的核心因素。首先，13道投影穿过桥洞，投射在高18英寸，直径52.5英寸的全景宽银幕上。接着，两台投影距较短的投影仪则负责展示驾驶室后面的画面。最后，为进一步优化航船停泊和启航的模拟效果，驾驶室两侧翼台均会安装3.3英寸的LCD大屏。
除此之外，“模拟训练器同样也会安装驾驶室，驾驶台位于投影仪上方，尺寸与中型舰船上的驾驶室一样。当然，驾驶室配备了导航辅助系统，因而能够监测各类舰船”。
六、没有IEC制定的国际标准，就没有模拟仿真技术
模拟训练仿真系统能够给受训飞行员或船员带来临场感甚至身体上的反馈，而这一切，里面相关元器件功不可没。这些相关元器件在整个系统中扮演了非常重要的角色。除了能够产生动作外，稍微高端点的虚拟现实体系可通过动画和声音效果提升现实感，临场感。
IEC/TC100：音频/视频/多媒体系统和设备技术委员会，以及其他技术领域（TAs）为各种设备制定了国际标准，诸如传递图片和声音的投影设备，存储以及声音系统等。
IEC/TC 110：电子显示设备技术委员会给“电子显示屏及相关电子元器件”制定了国际标准”，许多模拟仿真系统中均使用了显示屏，飞行模拟器，全动模拟机和海上导航虚拟机上的操作仪表盘均安装了各类显示屏。
模拟仿真体系之所以能够广泛应用于航空，海洋以及相关海岸行动人员的培训工作中，这要感谢IEC技术委员会及其分技术委员会制定的国际标准，他们携手IMO或ICAO等专门机构以及各行各业的标准制定机构，共同制定国际标准。
Virtual reality is central to aviation and maritime training
What is often seen as a novelty in many domains has in fact been used for decades
By Morand Fachot
Pilots being trained on CAE Airbus A350 XWB full-flight simulator (Photo: CAE)
Not that recent
The perception of three-dimensional depth of space to create a form of virtual reality has been familiar for a long time. It was used widely between the two World Wars and later on in toys and devices such as projectors and stereoscopes to give viewers looking at two photos taken from different angles the impression of seeing a scene or a landscape in three dimensions.
Beyond the visual dimension what could arguably be described as the first "serious" virtual reality application was developed in the form of flight simulators to train airmen.
Following trials with purely mechanical and very basic contraptions introduced in the 1910s, what can be described as the first real flight simulator, the Link Trainer, was developed in the late 1920s. It looked like a toy aircraft with short wooden wings and fuselage and was fixed to a universal joint mounted on a platform which could be made to pitch and roll using bellows activated by an electric pump.
After a spate of air crashes by pilots not familiar with instrument flying, the US Army Air Corps initially bought six exemplars of Link Trainers, which were designed to train crews to fly by instruments only. During World War 2, some 500 000 US and allied pilots were trained on the ground in the basic skills of flying by using more than 10 000 Link Trainers, which became known as Blue Boxes, and were improved by using films and interactive controls to create virtual flying conditions.
The move towards electronic-assisted simulation
The first generation of flight simulators relied primarily on mechanical systems to give trainee pilots basic physical feedback from their actions through pitch and roll. A greater sense of reality was provided by the introduction of electronic systems in simulators to reproduce instrument panels' visual indications as well as sounds and motion.
In 1954 the US company United Airlines bought four flight simulators at a cost of USD 3 million. These machines, to which the nose of a real plane with all flight instruments was attached, are considered the first modern flight simulators for commercial aviation, although they were not installed on moving platforms.
Flight simulators have improved greatly over the years and are now very complex.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the UN specialized agency that codifies and regulates many aspects of civil aviation, published a Manual of Criteria for the Qualification of Flight Simulation Training Devices (ICAO 9625-1 4th edition, 2015).
These devices can be extremely costly, depending on their characteristics and certification class from the various aviation authorities. Flight training devices (FTDs), also known as fixed base simulators, can cost from a few hundred thousand dollars to a few million; full flight simulators (FFSs), or motion base simulators, cost anything from a few million dollars to dozens of millions.
British Airways is reported to have spent GBP 10 million (USD 14 million) on its newest simulator to train the pilots who will fly its Airbus A380 superjumbo aircraft. This may seem very expensive, but when the cost of flying an airliner (fuel, maintenance, crew) is taken into account (from USD 6 000 an hour for single-aisle airliners to upwards of USD 8 000 for wide body jets) flight simulators are a very cost-effective way of training crews through many stages in the long term.
All down to electrical and electronic systems
These devices rely nearly entirely on electrical and electronic systems for their operation.
A manufacturer, Axis, stresses that its FFS has a "6 DOF (degree of freedom) fully electric motion system without any other pneumatic or hydraulic support systems, with less maintenance than any other system in the industry". IEC TC 2: Rotating machinery, develops International Standards for electric motors.
Many other IEC Technical Committees (TCs), such as IEC TC 20: Electric cables, IEC TC 23: Electrical accessories and its Subcommittees (SCs); IEC TC 47: Semiconductor devices, and its SCs, or IEC TC 48: Electrical connectors and mechanical structures for electrical and electronic equipment, prepare International Standards for components installed in simulators.
From aviation to shipping
Simulators are not used to train aviation pilots alone but also, and increasingly, are used in the shipping industry to develop bridge officers, pilots, mechanics and other operatives.
Training for the latter sector relies heavily on computer-based virtual reality systems and simulation suites that reproduce locations and ask for reactions to commands from the bridge, as well as to emergency situations, such as simulated fires or collisions and to mechanical incidents. It is also used to train harbour crane operators for loading and unloading containers and to train other shore workers.
The equivalent level of equipment to the multimillion FFSs required in training aviation pilots is not always needed in the maritime sector, making it possible to have training facilities installed in educational establishments or on shore sites elsewhere.
IMO recommended practices include simulation and manned models
The International Maritime organization (IMO), the specialized UN agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships, supports training using simulation and manned models of ships. IMO Resolution A.960(23) states that "The training should include practical experience gained under the close supervision of experienced pilots. This practical experience gained on vessels under actual piloting conditions may be supplemented by simulation, both computer and manned model, classroom instruction, or other training methods".
Advanced practical training of engine room and ship-bridge crews and of pilots is carried out on simulators in special schools and in centres run by marine equipment manufacturers such as Kongsberg Maritime AS and Transas Marine International or professional associations like the French Pilots’ Syndicate for the Atlantic, Brittany and Overseas Simulator (SPSA)..
SPSA offers an interesting insight through the technical set up of its simulator which relies on computers and offers an impressive display system::
"Screen projection is the key element of the simulation process (…) Through the bridge portholes, the image is displayed by 13 beamers on a 280° panoramic screen, 18 ft high x 52,5 ft diameter [5,5 m x 16 m]. In addition, two short focal projectors display the rear view from the pilot house. Finally, four 3,3 ft [1 m] LCD screens have been placed on both sides of the bridge wings in order to optimize the simulation of berthing and departure operations".
In addition the installation has also a navigation bridge "installed just above the projectors and its dimensions are those of a medium-sized vessel bridge (…) It is equipped with all the navigational aids (…) and enables the monitoring of all kinds of vessels (…)".
Although the system has no moving part, it is so realistic that some users feel seasick, according to SPSA Director Vincent Le Gall.
Other centres make it possible for trainee pilots to get practical experience by steering electrically-powered model ships in a basin. One such facility in France, Port Revel, has a fleet of 11 1:25 scale ships, representing 20 vessels, and 5 radio-controlled tugs, which can manoeuvre on a 5 hectare [12 acre] stretch of water.
The ships are fitted out with all the conventional features found on board a real ship and have built-in software and adjustable engines that can reproduce diesel or turbine propulsion.
Simulation is also used to train maritime search and rescue and lifeboat crews, and for port operations.
It will also prove useful in the not too distant future as the introduction of remotely-controlled unmanned ships is being considered. Steering these vessels from a distance will require skills honed in simulators and technologies applied in VR applications and installations very similar to the ones used for simulators.
No simulation without IEC International Standards!
A very important part of all simulator systems used to train pilots or ships crews, is played by the components that give trainees a sense of reality and sensorial, even physical, feedback, a kind of high-end virtual reality through animation and sounds, in addition to systems that reproduce motion.
IEC TC 100: Audio, video and multimedia systems and equipment, and its Technical Areas (TAs) develop International Standards for a wide range of equipment, such as projection, storage and sound systems destined to transmit images and sounds to displays or speakers.
IEC TC 110: Electronic display devices, prepares International Standards "in the field of electronic display devices and specific relevant components". Screens are used in many simulation systems and a wide range of displays are installed in instrument panels for FTDs, FFSs and marine navigation simulators.
Overall simulation systems for training civilian and armed services professionals in aviation, maritime and related shore operations rest on International Standards developed by many IEC TCs and SCs, working with specialized agencies like IMO or ICAO, the industry and other Standards Developing Organizations.