The following is a description of the custom virtual fencing simulation I developed for Behavioral Therapy of New York's Dr. Robert Udewitz for use with his Olympic level athlete clientele. Pictures are available at the bottom of the page.

Essentially, clients are experienced fencers who wish to work on certain aspects of their sport. This virtual fencing arena provides convenient exposure to a competition-level environment where clients can focus on breathing, mental preparation & getting "in the zone", as well as responding to events occurring during a match, etc. The primary feature of the simulation is the Opponent: a customizable virtual antagonist that offers options for gender, handedness (lefty vs righty), nationality, and behavior. There is also a virtual Director, present to officiate and perform all necessary calls during the match.

The Therapist can set the time limit and the type of match: Finals or Elimination. In Elimination type matches, the Client and Opponent are moved from the central piste to one of the four side pistes, and fencers appear on the other side pistes where they engage in matches of their own.

There are several scenarios to choose from depending on the therapist's planned course of action. The Programmable Opponent Scenario includes a completely customizable routine, allowing the therapist to create a sequence of behaviors which the Opponent will perform on cue. The Client may be made to "ride along" with the Opponent or move freely.

In the AI scenario, the Opponent and Client move and interact freely. The Opponent's behaviors are mostly independent, and the Opponent will follow the Client around on the piste and perform attacks at random when the Client is within range. If the Client stops moving, the Opponent will continue to provoke and prod the Client. The Opponent can score on the Client with a lunge unless the Client presses the response button in time, and may randomly decide to celebrate or "yell" upon scoring a point. The match continues until one side scores 15 points or the time runs out. 

Additionally, the therapist can choose target movements for the Client to look for, and the AI Opponent will perform these moves at random within 20 moves or less. When the target movement occurs, the Client must respond with a button press or the Opponent will score a point.The therapist may also choose to set focus words to appear on the television screens during a break in the action (to remind the Client to breathe, focus, relax, etc).

In the AI Scenario, the Opponent will be seen to perform other behaviors as well, designed to throw off or unbalance the Client. These include suddenly disengaging from the match, causing a break in the flow of the action, or deliberately stalling at the outset.