The legislation includes $221.6 million for military construction in Hawai'i, most of which will go toward transforming a 25th Infantry Division brigade into a light-armored, highly mobile Stryker unit and for continuing upgrades in living conditions at Schofield Barracks.

Abercrombie spokesman Michael Slackman said the congressman pushed for the research projects because they were left out of the Bush administration's proposed budget.

Abercrombie said the projects are strategically significant and will help Hawai'i's economy. "They will nourish our technology sector and help develop a work force that will position our economy for the 21st century," he said in a statement. "They will help our forces save lives and complete their missions in an increasingly complex and demanding battle environment."

The technology money includes $13 million for continued development of two separate computer-based systems designed to help Navy submarine commanders make better combat decisions, $6 million for the continued development of a miniaturized laser for use with Navy unmanned aerial vehicles, and $3 million for additional research in developing a way for the Army to remotely detect explosives such as the improvised bombs being used against soldiers in Iraq.

One of the more intriguing projects is $3 million for a virtual-training demonstration project for Hawai'i-based ground forces using a combination of video game and simulator technology developed by Atlantis Cyberspace Inc. in Honolulu.

With technology 12 years in the making, the project will offer equipment for 32 soldiers featuring virtual-reality pods, wireless weapons and other gadgets designed to create a variety of group combat scenarios.

"It's the equivalent of being inside a video game," said Laurent Scallie, founder and CEO of Atlantis Cyberspace.

Scallie said the Immersive Group Simulation training is intended to be a supplement to live training, rather than a replacement for the real thing. He said it has the potential to reduce training costs, serve as a leader development tool, offer exposure to evolving tactical environments and reduce dependence on high-demand training ranges.

While this would be the company's first demonstration project, a lot of individuals in the military have seen and experienced the technology firsthand and support the company's efforts, Scallie said.

The project should be ready to go by the summer of 2006. In the meantime, the company is pushing other applications for its equipment, including homeland security and police and fire training.

An additional $2.2 million would help the University of Hawai'i's Marine Mammal Research Program continue its Navy-supported studies into the effects of human-generated sound on the hearing and physiology of whales and dolphins.

There has been growing public concern regarding how sonar and other sounds affect the behavior and well-being of marine mammals, and Navy systems — most notably low-frequency active sonar — have been restricted by the courts because of their potential to harm marine mammals.

Paul Nachtigall, director of the Marine Mammal Research Program, said there is relatively little reliable scientific information on the effects of sound on whales and dolphins. For example, of the 85 species of whales and dolphins, there are basic hearing measures on only 11 species, he said.

Nachtigall said his program has developed a method of measuring hearing in these animals, and the plan is to add to the list of the species about which information is known.