FUTURE OF VIRTUAL WORLDS: DESIGNING VIRTUAL WORLDS FOR MILITARY SCENARIO PLANNING AND TRAINING

M.E. DAWSON (1) D.I. BESSETTE (2), J. D. ABRAMSON (3) and M. OMAR (4). (1) Walden University, 100 Washington Ave S #900, Minneapolis, MN 55401. (2) The National Graduate School of Quality Management, 184 Jones Rd, Falmouth, MA 02540. (3) Stratford University, 555 S. Independence Blvd., Virginia Beach, VA 23452. (4) Nawroz University, Tenahi Duhok, Iraq.

Abstract With the continual rise of virtual words environments such as

OpenSimulator (OpenSim) and Second Life (SL) have the ability to be used for positive or negative gains in military warfare in the areas of training (Dawson, 2011). For example, a terrorist could create a virtual representation of a building by using publicly available drafting plans. This virtual representation would serve as scenario based training for terrorists. Additionally this would allow for terrorists of different cells or groups to communicate freely. Policing the virtual worlds may become a necessity to maintain national security. The U.S. Army is currently implementing a program known as Military Open Simulator Enterprise Strategy (MOSES). MOSES runs on OpenSim and is moving towards a Common Access Card (CAC) enabled environment for secure and encrypted communications.

IGI Published Book Chapters• Dawson, M., Marwan, O., & Abramson, J. (2014) Understanding the Methods Behind Cyber Terrorism. Encyclopedia of Information Science & Technology 3rd Edition.

• Dawson, M., Omar, M., Abramson, J., & Bessette, D. (2014). The Future of National and International Security on the Internet. Information Security in Diverse Computing Environments.

• Dawson, M., Al Saeed, I., Wright, J., & Onyegbula, F. (2014) Open Source Software to Enhance the STEM Learning Environment. Encyclopedia of Education and Technology.

Second Life (SL): Military Island

SL: Campsite Mock Up

SL: Equipment Training

SL: MOSES Interrogation Scenario

OpenSimulator (OpenSIM)

Viewers

Scenario Planning

Key Terms