Purdue U.'s 'BattleFlow' brings data to military classrooms A screenshot shows how BattleFlow simulates the Omaha Beach landing in Normandy during World War II. (Purdue University) Share Dec 22, 2020 | EDSCOOP To help students in military classrooms understand the battlefields of the past, present and future, a team of researchers at Purdue University is developing a simulation tool that relies on virtual reality and ideas borrowed from fluid mechanics. The software, called BattleFlow, renders simulations of battlefields with user-defined conditions that can be viewed through virtual reality headsets or on desktop displays. Sorin Adam Matei, a Purdue communications professor who’s leading the project, said that although the software includes a VR frontend, it’s not intended to be a video game, nor to recreate battlefields in a visually realistic way.