Hear clothing expert Mitch Driggers describe new materials combinations that will protect American combat soldiers in Iraq from fires caused by improvised explosive devices. 10:41

Mark Bryden, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Iowa State University, gives his take on how immersive virtual reality technology is changing the way products are designed in both the military and mainstream engineering. 8:56

Vehicle positioning systems that combine GPS with inertial sensors and wheel encoders have emerged as a key enabling technology in the DARPA Urban Challenge. Ten teams including the top two finishers made use of a positioning and orientation system from Applanix Corp. Louis Nastro, Applanix's director of land products, explains how these systems have evolved to give positioning accuracies down to just a few centimeters. 7:32