Virtualized avionics

A system for displaying physical elements in a virtual flight simulation system comprising:

• a virtual cockpit viewed through a virtual environment;
• at least one camera to capture images or video of one or more physical elements;
• a processing unit configured to process the images captured within the physical environment and render digital images or video of the physical elements within the virtual environment;
• and
• at least one display device configured to display the rendered physical elements within the virtual environment.

A method for providing a virtual flight simulation system environment, the method comprising:

• providing a physical simulation environment to a trainee, wherein at least one physical mock avionics device is within the physical simulation environment;
• providing a virtual environment viewable by the trainee on a visual interface device;
• displaying to the trainee the virtual environment having at least one virtualized avionics device;
• and
• configuring the visual interface device to display rendered physical elements within the virtual environment to the trainee, wherein the rendered physical elements correspond to the at least one mock avionics device within the physical simulation environment.