Image by Virtra SystemsImage by 20080812virtrasystems.jpg Sure, it looks like fun, but it's meant to save lives and get the job done.

Sure, VR is such an 80s buzzword, but it still persists and improving. The Charleston police are one of the few in the region to take advantage of training from Virtra Systems. Out with the Sega CD like sessions, and in with the 360-degree, HD, realistic guns with recoil, and shock feedback systems.

The point is to immerse law enforcement in a multitude of scenarios, so that if they encounter an intense situation in non-virtual life they won't freeze up.

My favorite part of the system? If you get shot in the training session, the computer zaps you. It's so simple, yet great. When's that coming to first-person shooters on the Xbox 360?

To see how it's being used locally, head over to Live 5 News, whose Anthony Miller got to give the machine a test run.

The system has found a market in military training, too.