The MIITTE Team

Who We Are

MIITTE is an MoD initiative funded by Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (Dstl)

As part of SERAPIS, MIITTE aims to expand, diversify and develop new capabilities within UK defence and security through increasing participation from non-traditional defense suppliers.

The SERAPIS Framework aims to identify and exploit emerging technologies that support UK MoD in activities relating to training, evaluation and preparation for operations.

The research, led by NSC, will harness the expertise and talent of startups, SMEs, industry partners, and academia.

Can you help
representing team photo

Collaboration is at our core

Join our Community of Practice

Our aim is to enhance and sustain the technical capabilities available to Dstl by enabling relationships with a wide range of companies and establishments.

Our Community of Practice (COP) provides a platform to share knowledge that underpins capability across the entire supplier network and unlocks collaborative value.

Joining the SERAPIS-SSE COP provides the following benefits:

1.

Open to any supplier with demonstrable and relevant capability

2.

No fees to join

3.

Membership gives you visibility of customer requirements and opportunities to get involved

4.

COP members receive quarterly updates on research activities through a combination of newsletters and conference events

5.

Every six months, COP members receive a briefing from active projects on the work undertaken

6.

Conference events allow for supplier, MoD and Dstl networking

7.

Funding opportunities are fed directly to COP members

I’m ready to register Pitch your idea
group around table

The process

Pitch Your Idea

The MIITTE team will be running a Dragons’ Den style pitch panel in late July and you are invited to request to Pitch by submitting a Pitch Abstract by close of business on 10th July 2020.

Abstracts should summarise the idea and its relevance to MIITTE research in no more than 250 words. Abstracts will be down selected to ensure they are within MIITTE’s scope and support our objectives.

Selected suppliers will be invited to pitch their idea in front of an invited panel on 23rd July 2020. You are required to be available to deliver the presentation on this date.

There will be another Pitch Panel later in the year, so if you are unable to present on the 23rd, you are encouraged to submit an abstract and we will consider it for future Pitch Panels. 

Pitch Inclusions

  • The outline of the idea
  • How the idea supports MIITTE research
  • The proposed deliverables
  • The indicative funding sought

Pitches will be delivered via remote video conference and suppliers may use the “Shared Screen” facility to support their pitch with a relevant presentation, video or imagery etc. Suppliers are also encouraged to submit supporting material ahead of the pitch to avoid any unforeseen technical issues and nothing should be shared other than that which is intended to be included in the pitch presentation.

Pitches should last no more than 10 minutes and will be followed by a 5-minute Q&A session where the panel may seek clarification on any aspect of the pitch. Timing will be enforced to ensure that all ideas are given equal consideration. The panel will not provide advice or guidance to pitching organisations.

There is no guarantee that any ideas will be taken forwards after the Pitch Panel, but funding has been put aside and the highest scoring pitches will be considered for funding.

Assessment Criteria

Pitches will be assessed based on:

  1. Desirability - Does the idea address a problem relevant to MIITTE?
  2. Feasibility - Is there a good chance of the research achieving its objectives? It is however acknowledged that research can deliver unexpected learning outcomes.
  3. Viability - Is the research deliverable in the timescales and budget available?
  4. Value for Money - Does the pitch make clear how the idea represents good Value for Money?
  5. Exploitation Potential - Does the idea open up additional benefits and prospects beyond the stated scope?
  6. Capability Stewardship - Does the idea generate beneficial capability within the community?

MIITTE Scope and Objectives

MIITTE’s key objective is to maximise the impact of immersive technology in training and education through the development of a portfolio of evidence (PoE) for the effective use of XR technology.

There will be occasions where there is a need to invest in demonstrators in order to support the gathering of evidence, but the vast majority of the research is in gathering evidence through supporting trials of XR systems.

It should also be noted that while “Immersive Technologies” in the MIITTE title suggests any technology which adds some level of realism to training, MIITTE is primarily concerned with the use of head-mounted displays. This can include technology which enhances the headset experience (i.e. haptic devices) or adds value to the assessment piece (i.e. optical and other body sensors). Caves and other non-headset systems are out of scope. The only exception to this is where technology could be considered a game-changer or is potentially disruptive.

Evidence Gaps

There are significant gaps in the evidence base and of particular interest are ideas that fall into the following categories:

  • Multi-user training. The majority of evidence covers individual user training and hence MIITTE are interested in understanding the utility of XR for team/group/organisation training.
  • Remote Training. The MIITTE team would like to gather evidence for using XR for remote training. This includes students using the capability when away the training facility and also the ability for the instructor to be remote.
  • Training hard-to-train skills. The MIITTE team would like to understand where XR can be used to support training which otherwise could not be carried out safely/effectively in any other way.
  • XR for Instructors. The MIITTE team would like evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness of XR for supporting instruction, either through facilitating instruction or aiding assessment.
  • Open Call. The MIITTE team also welcome any ideas within scope of MIITTE.
    VR headset

    Find out more about the COP and/or submit an idea

    Register Your Interest

    To find out more about MIITTE and the SERAPIS-SSE Community of Practice please register your details below. If you have an idea and would like to pitch, please enter your abstract. We also welcome links to supporting information such as videos, images and presentation material.

    * These fields are mandatory.

    By clicking "Send" you are agreeing for us to contact you using the above Personal Data you have provided. This information will not be used for marketing purposes, we will only contact you with regards to your enquiry. If you would like further information please review our Privacy Policy.