Orlando, Florida (CNN) -- Virtual life is around us every day, from online communities to simulation in computer games. It's fun, but it's also useful.
The United States military uses simulation technology to train pilots, soldiers who take part in convoys and medics, who are similar to civilian emergency medical technicians.
New battery-operated, remote-controlled mannequins can simulate bleeding and breathing, and they have blinking eyes that dilate. Medics can test their skills on these life-like mannequins.
The new units, which are packed with technology, are used at 23 U.S. Army Medical Simulation Training Centers as part of a program to teach lifesaving techniques to medics and nonmedical personnel.
A Pentagon study says the training program has saved 1,000 soldiers' lives in combat, said Lt. Col. Wilson Ariza, manager of the U.S. Army Medical Simulation Project.
The centers -- originally designed to train medics and first responders before deployment to Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan -- became so good at saving lives on the battlefield that training was added to include everyday soldiers.
The latest mannequins are anatomically correct and have life-like skin, allowing soldiers to practice lifesaving techniques to stop bleeding and start intravenous medications.
A computer captures the medics' actions to ensure that they take the right steps.
"That simulator will breathe and bleed. And if it's bleeding, you have to apply the proper pressure to stop or control the bleeding, or the simulator will die, Ariza said.
The training takes place over five days at military bases in the United States and overseas.
The last day is the toughest. In an exercise, a simulated bomb explodes inside a tent, and a soldier screams "Help me! Help me!" as a medic rushes to a man whose legs appear to be blown off.
Blood squirts from the mannequin's severed limbs, which have exposed muscles and bone. The graphic scene includes soldiers lying on the ground with facial injuries.
A tourniquet is applied to the mannequin's legs, stopping the bleeding. The screaming soldier is an actor, lying on a cot, who has only the top half of his body exposed. The bottom half is the mannequin. CNN
