David Axe
Security

Is the Army's Virtual World Already Here?

The Army wants to build a World of Warcraft-style virtual world for training, DANGER ROOM reported a couple weeks back. "There have been a number of partial explorations in this direction, but nothing near a complete system has been created to our knowledge," Dr. Roger Smith, an Army researcher, told us. But one commercial game […]

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The Army wants to build a World of Warcraft-style virtual world for training, DANGER ROOM reported a couple weeks back. "There have been a number of partial explorations in this direction, but nothing near a complete system has been created to our knowledge," Dr. Roger Smith, an Army researcher, told us.

But one commercial game maker insists that's not true. "There is such a game already in existence," says John MacQueen from Playnet. He's talking about the company's seven-year-old World War II Online (pictured):

Players divide into the two sides as Axis or Allied and make virtual war on foot, in armored vehicles and trucks, in fighter aircraft, bombers and even ships at sea in one huge environment. It is in fact by far the largest [Massive Multiplayer Online Game] 3D world in existence that we are aware of.

Lest you think this is just a game, Playnet already has adapted the same basic platform for a British defense contractor in order to test new weapons. MacQueen says he believes a further expansion of World War II Online could serve as a framework for the Pentagon's virtual training world. Of course, MacQueen stands to benefit tremendously if that were ever to happen, so take this all with a huge grain of salt. Still, it's interesting that someone thinks a virtual training world is actually possible today.

But another simulation designer, with years of experience working for the Pentagon, tells DANGER ROOM that even if you did build such a virtual world, you'd quickly run into some pretty huge problems.
David Hassell* from *Media.it, Inc. says that managing training in such a world is harder than building the world:

How does one enforce the CORRECT behaviors? This is a difficult task in any training, but [harder] when one is playing in a virtually limitless geographical fashion and has (at least until proper protocols are built in) difficulty in safeguarding information about techniques, tactics, procedures we don't want everyone in the world to know we use. Plus [there's] the problems with identification of players. Anyway, [I] think we’ll get there, but [I also] think it might be a decade off.

(Art: Playnet)

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