Microsoft is already planning to expand ESP’s simulation capabilities, so we might see a host of other affordable simulation products reach market soon. In 2009, the company plans to release ESP 2.0, which will include ground capabilities for missions by trucks, tanks and other vehicles. In 2011, ESP 3.0 is projected to introduce support for maritime scenarios and building interiors.

Another promising avenue being explored is integration with Microsoft Virtual Earth. “Virtual Earth has real data, but they don’t have the experiential side of it,” said McCahill, whose team has already done some work with Virtual Earth and developed demonstrations he described as impressive.

“We have done the work to prove it can be done,” he said. We are “taking the real data and making it very interactive.”

McCahill said he hopes integration with Virtual Earth might be possible in the next version, though “I don’t want to commit to that because it takes two teams.”