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NARRATOR (VO): Virtual Shooter in 100 seconds!

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[HANDGUNS FIRING]

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE,

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tests about 200,000 ballistic rounds each year, mostly firing them by hand.

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LOWELL JOHNSON: Depending on the type of testing we're doing,

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either firearms or ammunition testing,

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we would fire several thousand rounds a week.

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NARRATOR: This repetitive firing takes a toll.

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JOHNSON: The recoil forces that are generated on the hands, shoulders, joints,

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over time, is debilitating and it ends up

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causing repetitive workplace injuries, and chronic joint pains.

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NARRATOR: ICE asked the DHS Science and Technology Directorate

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to develop a solution, and, in cooperation with Radiance Technologies,

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the Directorate developed Virtual Shooter.

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CHUCK MARTIN: We call this a virtual shooter,

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simply because it is mimicking our motion.

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NARRATOR: Virtual Shooter is constructed along the lines of the human body

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with adjustable components that mimic joints and muscles.

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So while other firing devices lock the handgun in one position,

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Virtual Responder allows and responds to recoil just as a human arm does.

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JOHN PRICE: The wrist movement, the arm movement,

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the torso movement, and everything that goes in between.

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You get the same feel, look, and response from a weapon and the ammunition

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as you would if it were a real person.

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NARRATOR: As a result, the device is enabling researchers

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to learn more about the mechanics of shooting

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information that could help officers in the field

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fire handguns more accurately and with less strain.

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But Virtual Shooter's primary objective remains

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to spare ballistics testers from injury.

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PRICE: Nobody wants to be injured,

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nobody wants to have problems, health problems,

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as a result of overshooting.

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That's what we're working on.

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NARRATOR: For more information, visit us at FirstResponder.gov

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