Royal Navy to Use PSPs as Training Tools
PSP: Royal Navy Edition.
Gamers will agree that video games can offer many learning experiences. So, it must be a gamer who convinced the British Royal Navy to purchase 230 PSP handhelds to be used a study aids.
The PSPs will be loaded with custom training software that will help engineering technicians brush up on the basics. According to the Times Online, the basic weapons engineering course includes atomic structure, semi-conductors, doping, the positive-negative (PN) junction, reverse biasing and forward biasing.
The idea to use the PSP as a training tool came from a various number of factors. First, it was durable compared to other electronic devices. Secondly, studying from a PSP is thought to be less boring than looking at a book.
"We are working on the premise that looking at a book is now seen as dull and boring," said Commander Trevor Price, of Navy Command. "When I was at school you sat at your desk and you did your work and that was it."
The PSP should also be familiar to the Navy’s weapons engineering technicians, which are of a similar demographic to Sony's target market. This mean that some of them will already be well-acquainted with how to use the handheld.
Finally, and probably most pleasing to the gamer crowd, the Navy decided to not disable the UMD drive and allow for gameplay on the machine.
"I thought if we don’t disable it, it’ll be better looked after," said Lieutenant-Commander Mark “Beasty” Williams, who developed the program. "They are also engineering technicians and would probably be able to fix it themselves."
Follow us on Twitter for more tech news, reviews, and exclusive updates!
- Leak Says Google Phone is a "Certainty"
- 12-inch Netbooks to Go Mainstream in 2010
- Man Arrested Robbing RuneScape Characters
- Nintendo Sold 1.5 Million Systems Last Week
- PS3 Sales Reach All Time High Over Black Friday
- Google's Caffeine Search Engine Goes Live
- Microsoft: Natal Will Replace TV Remotes
- iPhone App Sends Messages to Xbox Live Friends
- Small-Time Company Sues Nintendo, Sony, MSFT
- Man Officially Married Virtual GF, Plans Future
- AT&T Places Last in Consumer Reports Study
- Square: Accept Credit Card Payments on Phone
- Ask.com Users Desperate for Miley Cyrus' Digits
- Over 3.5K Sex Offenders Booted from Facebook
- EFF Sues Government Over Social Network Use
- Mirror's Edge Leaps Onto iPhone Jan 2010
- AT&T's Case Against Verizon Dismissed
- Roomba Saves Family From Poisonous Snake
- Snoop Dogg Lends His Voice to GPS Navigation
that's cool i guess. i'm not really a fan of the british royal navy (don't have a problem with them either) but i think they should have the gaming option left in there.
I wonder if the trend of sony products going to military uses will continue...
) but i think they should have the gaming option left in there
they did leave the gaming option in there.
that's cool i guess. i'm not really a fan of the british royal navy (don't have a problem with them either) but i think they should have the gaming option left in there.I wonder if the trend of sony products going to military uses will continue...
Finally, and probably most pleasing to the gamer crowd, the Navy decided to not disable the UMD drive and allow for gameplay on the machine.
Now there is a smart commander!
t but i think they should have the gaming option left in there.
Dude read a little slower...
Hmmmm....lets see.....study or play games? That's a tough question.
Dude read a little slower...
No i saw that they had left that option in there. I was just reaffirming that it SHOULD be in there. Probably bad wording on my part. In other words, I'm glad that the UMD is in there.
they did leave the gaming option in there.
read comment above. bad wording i guess
I could see these things on Ebay, right about ... now!
But can it play Crysis?
sorry commander, i didnt do my homework because my grilfriend was playing tokobot on my psp.
and now i cant remember how to fix this sub and we're all going to die.
Awesome. =D
So, are all the PSP's hacked to allow a custom program?
Games and porn have done well on my PSP so far, but I've just mainly used it as a MP3 player. Too bad I got a PSPgo, just because I can't sell the games I don't like.
Just because it's on a PSP doesn't mean it will be fun. If it's just used like an e-reader it will be just as boring as reading a textbook. Still, I'd be happy to get a free PSP.
ya its basic electronic theory...isnt fun, but better than big'ol tech pubs, i think its good progress wish i had that when i was in the navy.
It's different, but hey, it's worth a shot. Ya never know, it could indeed become a useful tool for the Royal navy.
Sigh. It's a strange, strange world. Being literate and studying is now considered "looking at a book."
What about laptop/nettop instead of a gaming console?
Is it too complicate for them to use a device with more than 10 buttons?
I wish I could get my hands on one of those, would be cool to read from a PSP than a book. Why carry around freaking 7-11 kilograms of books with you all around, when you can hook it up to a cord, place it on your neck, get a charger, put it in your pocket and walk with it all day long without the constant back pain (or the neck pain associated to having a laptop backpack). The PSP could be fitted with a proper eBook reader (or a proper interactive educational application), Why limit your self to 3-5 books when you can carry one object and have more than that?