NVG-the-Day: towards realistic night-vision training

Abstract

Current night-time training using (flight-, driving-) simulators is hindered by the lack of realism. Effective night-time training requires the simulation of the illusions and limitations experienced while wearing Night Vision Goggles during the night. Various methods exist that capture certain sensor effects such as noise and the characteristic halos around lights. However, other effects are often discarded, such as the fact that image intensifiers are especially sensitive to nearinfrared (NIR) light, which makes vegetation appear bright in the image (the chlorophyll effect) and strongly affects the contrast of objects against their background. Combined with the contrast and resolution reduction in NVG imagery, a scene at night may appear totally different than during the day. In practice these effects give rise to misinterpretations and illusions. When training persons on how to deal with such illusions it is essential to simulate them as accurately as possible . We present a method based on our Colour-Fusion technique (see Toet & Hogervorst, Opt. Eng. 2012) 1 to create a realistic NVG simulation from daytime imagery, which allows for training of the typical effects experienced while wearing NVG during the night.