The Broken Tablet - MOSES Newsletter - Fall 2012 Edition

7/29/2019 The Broken Tablet - MOSES Newsletter - Fall 2012 Edition

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DISRIBUION SAEMEN A. Approved or public release; distribution is unlimited.

SFCPA

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YSMITH

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UNITED STATES ARMY

DISRIBUION SAEMEN A. Approved or public release; distribution is unlimited.


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FALL EDIION / MOSES Newsletter DISRIBUION SAEMEN A. Approved or public release; distribution is unlimited.

Welcome to the inaugural issue o Te Broken ablet: MilitaryOpen Simulator Enterprise Strategy (MOSES) Newsletter - ap-proved or public distribution and brought to you by the USArmy Research Labs Simulation and raining echnology Cen-ter (SC) in Orlando, FL.

We hope to provide this ongoing, inormational newsletter to thegreater virtual world community. Our ocus is to gather, share,and distribute content and ideas through the circulation oTeBroken abletto all curious participants interested in research,brainstorming, and building out better worlds.

Te editorial team oTe Broken ablet looks to explore whathappens when diverse backgrounds meet in a virtual world;backgrounds including, but not exclusive to: military, technol-ogy, education, government, industry, non-prot entities, andthe arts.

Sharing inormation, resources, designs, methodologies and/or research that can be publicly released within the larger com-munity o people uels the creativity o any experienced or in-experienced user. We see users creatively using virtual worldsand cutting edge technology in any o our dierent proessions,enterprises and elds o interest that will all help eed valuableinormation to this newsletter.

Dont miss the ollowing Featured Sections in this issue:

Education Featured Estate Manager Military & Training

Future Watch Community & Government Featured Artist & Content Creation

Now, a note to the MOSES Community: the uture success oTe Broken abletdepends on your input! We encourage youto submit your comments, suggestions and contributions to us.ogether, we can build a supportive community and drive thegrowth o the extended virtual world in which we live.

Get ready to unite with us to evaluate the ability of the OpenSimulator and to provide independent and secured access to a

virtual world.

Virtually yours,

Douglas B. Maxwell, Director, Project MOSESonietta A. Walters, Editor-in-ChieJames Neville, Managing Editor

For more news, inormation, and articles,please visit the

US Army RDECOM ARL HRED SC website at:http://www.arl.army.mil/www/deault.cm?page=31

MOSES Youube Channel:http://goo.gl/uaMN

MOSES Inormational Websitehttp://brokentablet.arl.army.mil

Email:[email protected]

About Us . . . .

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TECHNOLO

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UNITED STATES ARMY


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3 FALL EDIION / MOSES NewsletterDISRIBUION SAEMEN A. Approved or public release; distribution is unlimited.

The MOSES Rationaleby Douglas MaxwellTe US Army Research Laboratory Simulation andraining echnology Center (ARL SC) conductsresearch into gaming and virtual world technology orpossible application to military training needs. TeARL SC tests and evaluates numerous virtual world

technologies, rom both industry and the open sourcecommunity, as it is widely recognized there is still noone size ts all solution or all the training and educa-tion needs o the military. Some virtual environmentsexcel at providing classroom ocused experiences, oth-er virtual worlds may have better terrain and weathercapabilities, still other virtual technologies may havevery high accuracy but low graphics quality. Te sac-rices needed to support various capabilities are oendelity in the simulation. What is needed is a exiblevirtual training ramework that allows or variable del-ity depending on training objective. One o the virtual

worlds investigated was Second Lie, an online three di-mensional virtual world designed to allow or signicantsocial interactivity. Content is uploaded and presentedby the users, called residents, and not created by LindenLab (the makers o Second Lie). Tis is a radical de-parture rom the traditional art and content pipelines ocompeting games.

Objects in Second Lie are interoperable and capableo being scripted to perorm various behaviors. Tis al-

lows or computational steering and represents a majorshi rom the traditional virtual training environmentcreation process. Tese attributes also allow or subjectmatter experts to directly upload work and training ma-terial rather than be completely dependent on artists andmodelers.

Initial exploratory eorts by the US military into the Sec-ond Lie product revealed a number o useul activities

could be accomplished, not only or training but alsomodeling and simulation. For example, procedural train-ing activities are accomplished through the creation o avirtual representation o a working environment. Tisallows participants to make mistakes saely and inexpen-sively. Use cases include the preparation or rare or dan-gerous events. Another useul example is the creation ointeractive situations that challenge the user and provideeedback or knowledge training. Te simple scriptinglanguage in Second Lie allows or a non-determinantlearning environment driven by objectives, not rame-work limitations.

Second Lie has been established as a useul platorm oreducators and online learning. Linden Lab has createda prot structure where they benet rom users addingto their ramework. However, certain drawbacks to theplatorm have been exposed. Specically, the content inthe platorm is very difcult to export. Since Second Liemakes provisions or all content to have intellectual prop-erty rights associated, work created in group settings hascomplex ownership rights, making capture and backup a

Armory on MOSES. Photo Courtesy US Army STTC. Content, Aimee Weber Studio.


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challenge.

Another drawback is cost. Although it costs nothing or acasual user to register an account and enter Second Lie,individuals or organizations who wish to create contentneed to purchase space to do so. Private space costs $1000USD setup ee with $295 USD per month in maintenance

costs. Since Second Lie is a public orum, certain securityand privacy issues arise. Educators oen eel the need toobtain this private space so that the students are protectedrom exposure to the rest o the Second Lie citizens.

Military users need to be able to operate the virtual train-ing environments on networks separate rom the In-ternet. Oen times the training material is sensitive orsimulation data has a classied component. Since LindenLab does not currently oer a version o the Second Lieplatorm or use behind a corporate or government re-wall, the product has limited utility.

In late 2006, Linden Lab made the surprising decision toopen the source code to their client code. Enterprisingprogrammers in the open source community created areverse engineered soware server, called the Open Sim-ulator. Open Simulator is an open source virtual worldserver which can be accessed via the same viewer as Sec-ond Lie and the developers strive to make the sowareas closely compatible as possible. Te Open Simulatorproject is an initiative created to address issues such ascontent portability, security, and cost. Using this opensource soware, educators can explore the use o a sec-

ond lie environment without investment, use the envi-ronment in an enclave network environment to protectstudents that may be under age and have the ability tobackup their work.

MOSES is not a product, but intended to be a best prac-tice strategy or other organizations wishing to deployan Open Simulator based virtual world. Te objective oMOSES is to evaluate the Open Simulator and its abilityto provide network independent and secure access to avirtual environment. MOSES has our main goals:

1. o meet or exceed the service and capabilities providedby the Second Lie Enterprise product.- Persistent virtual world- Stable server environment with redundancy- Voice communications- Base content library- Mesh based content import capability- In-environment multimedia presentation capability- Provide on-line graphical monitoring mechanisms to

start and stop server processes remotely- Provide online graphical user management and setup.2. o provide a stable and in-kind Second Lie-like clientenvironment.3. o provide guidance to other organizations wishing toreplicate MOSES results.4. o link to other organizations to expand the MOSES

grid.

MOSES was initially deployed in February o 2011 to alimited test group o about a dozen Open Simulator ex-pert users and it debuted to the public on March 22, 2011at the Defense GameTech Users Conference in Orlando,Florida. It was shown or the rst time to a large publiccrowd at the tutorial, Virtual Worlds: Advanced opicswith Second Life - Programming & Management. eadvanced topic was a discussion o the MOSES projectand the sane approaches to Open Simulator migrationwith comparisons to both grids.

As o this writing, the MOSES has grown to almost 200sims with over 400 registered users. Te program hasgrown through the contributions o a vigorous and ac-tive community o users. In addition to the main MO-SES grid, there are additional prototyping activities anda MOSES in a Box project that allows people to experi-ment on their own private networks.

For more information, contact STTC Public Affairs Ofce:

Michelle Milliner

407-384-5227

[email protected]

Douglas Maxwell, MSMEScience and echnology ManagerVirtual World Strategic ApplicationsU.S. Army Simulation & Training Technology Center (STTC)


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Virtual STEM Labsby James Neville

Dr. James McDermott is Proessor in Instructional De-sign or Online Learning at Capella University with adistinguished career in science, industrial technology,and education. He was a process engineer or NorthropGrumman with material review board authority on anumber o ight systems including the B1, B2, the SpaceShuttle and the C17. He is a world class engineer withcontributions in trainer based computer simulations that

were targeted to reduce abrication losses. He has beenworking with virtual environments since 1987, includingdissertation work on virtual reality simulation interacessuch as HMD (Head Mounted Displays) at Texas A&MUniversity.

Dr. McDermott joined the MOSES community in January2012. His mission is, o support ast simulation designo SEM [Science, echnology, Engineering, and Math-

ematics] labs in support o the American security eortthrough a solid technology base. McDermott states, Weare building a science lab [3-D Web] object library. It isour view that relevant story lines can enhance student en-gagement and retention. We are building an Articial In-telligence capability supporting bots modeled upon greatscientists o the past. It is our intent that students can re-live milestone discoveries o the past with the original,historical researchers responsible. (Tink o being at thesides o Lavoisier, Faraday, Curie; discovering Oxygen,Electromagnetism, Radioactivity.)

Our progress to date involves a six table science labwhich is supported by a single instrument or each o bi-ology, chemistry, and physics. Currently we are looking atexisting AI codes and constructing their own pathway toachieve a convincing AI capacity.

McDermotts career path took him rom major contribu-tions in industry to a growing interest and dedication toSEM education, particularly in engaging simulation or

Virtual Reality Fruit Fly Lab; Students deduce patterns of genetic inheritance using Drosophilia.Photo courtesy James McDermott


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enhanced learning. He took time out to teach ve yearso advanced physics and chemistry at the high schoollevel, then returned to university level. McDermott nowmentors a dozen doctoral students online in Second Lie.

By creating lab instrumentation simulations in onlinevirtual environments, McDermott seeks to allow students

to personally experience the thrill o scientic discovery;he seeks to allow student access to sophisticated lab in-strumentation in virtual reality that they may never seein real lie.

McDermott has a big vision or the uture: We need toaccelerate the scientic development inrastructure orour kids. Te uture o the military is going to be robot-ics, energy, computers, and quantum communication.Most important to all that is a scientic oundation. Mc-Dermotts approaches his work with an engineering o-cus, o put together tools and subsystems to achieve aspecic goal. I you can show practicality and usability,then you can push development aster down the line. Youcan push virtual worlds to the next level. In that regard,MOSES is a leader.

Te power o MOSES is in the people who come to it.Tere are a lot o places to get the technology. But thepeople who come to MOSES have a vision, a highly de-veloped skill set, and are willing to cooperate. Te com-munication that goes on ormally (e.g., at meetings) andinormally (e.g., between meetings) is priceless.

McDermott believes in sharing work developed rom theoutside into MOSES. Available on his estate, or example,are titration machines and optics benches. Te titrationmachine is a tool used in analytical wet chemistry, whichanalyzes chemical samples or pH. Te optics bench al-lows exploration o the dual wave/particle nature o lightusing lasers, mirrors, and beam splitters.

When McDermott was in Second Lie, he heard o theOpen Simulator (OpenSim), but at that time elt no in-terest in starting rom scratch in some other universe.

However, with MOSES available, it became obvious thatOpenSim has matured, providing powerul technologieswithout attendant high costs. Trough MOSES, I have amuch greater appreciation or OpenSim and its possibili-ties or prolieration across multiple virtual worlds.

McDermott concludes, I have been impressed by thequality o the work done by MOSES participants in theDefense Game Tech Users Conference and the Federal

Virtual Challenge. MOSES members are ellow contribut-ing researchers, and I look orward to continue workingwith them to engage more outside science and technol-ogy communities and to help schools and people acceler-ate science inrastructure development.

Virtual Reality Optics Bench Lab; Students explore the dualwave/particle nature of light using lasers, mirrors, and beamsplitters. Photo courtesy James McDermott


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MOSES Winners of the2012 Federal VirtualWorlds Challengeby Pam Broviak

Out o several entries to the Federal Virtual World Chal-lenge 2012 submitted by members o the MOSES com-munity, two were chosen as nalists. One o the the nal-ists was Dr. Kay McLennan, a proessor o practice andacting director at ulane University, with her Prisoners

Dilemma Layered Simulation Prototype. Te other nal-ist was Robert Daniel, president of BlueGrid Virtualiza-tion Security, with his CyberSim Holodeck entry.

Dr. McLennans project, entered under the EngagedLearning category, is a virtual simulation o the prisonersdilemma, a classic game oen analyzed in the study ogame theory. Te 3D environment in which the entry wascreated allows or students to experience an actual im-mersion into the game. Students can synchronously visitthe virtual site and enter an virtual jail cell together tobegin the game. Scripted boards acilitate the game playprompting the students or their answers. Tese respons-es are displayed in an adjacent interrogation room.

Dr. McLennan also makes use o 3D visual displays to il-lustrate the dierent player scenarios available in the pris-oners dilemma game. Additional resources are oered ina nearby courtroom setting. Tese include slide shows,vocabulary ashcards, and videos oering inormation

about game theory strategists. A sel-test is also availableor students. In the jury area o the courtroom, studentsare encouraged to leave or receive notecards with eed-back and inormation.

Te entire project was built in the MOSES grid. Visitorsto that virtual environment can nd inormation aboutthe build at the ollowing location: sttc_0037/149/224/31.Additional resources and videos about the Prisoners Di-lemma Layered Simulation Prototype can also be oundon the projects website at:https://sites.google.com/site/vwc12mclennan/.

Mr. Daniels CyberSim Holodeck project, entered un-der the Holodeck category o the competition, modelsa Security Operations Center as an augmented virtualcyber security analyst workspace. According to the proj-ect website, Te CyberSim Holodeck combines virtualreality (SecondLie and MOSES) with augmented realitytechnologies (Smartphone and HML5 viewer) to createan analytic training environment or the next generationcyber security analyst. Daniel used the ollowing equip-ment to assist in creating the holodeck experience: micro-phone, keyboard, Xbox Kinect, and an Emotiv headset.

One component o the CyberSim Holodeck project high-lights VWphone, a phone system that can be used to com-municate between grids. Tis network also allows a cellphone user to call people or objects in a virtual world.Another component o the project shows how a usercan manipulate virtual objects with the use o an Emo-tiv headset. Daniel demonstrated how this worked dur-ing a presentation at the Federal Consortium or Virtual

Prisoners Dilemma. Photo Courtesy Dr. Kay Mclennan


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Worlds Conerence in May 2012. During his talk, he worea headset and mapped his emotions into a virtual worldto move bars up and down on a virtual object strappedto his avatars back. As his stress or excitement level in-creased, the bars would go up. Tey would then return toa lower level as he relaxed.

CyperSim Holodeck Project, Photo Courtesy of Robert Daniel

More inormation about Mr. Daniels CyberSim Holo-deck is available on the project website at:h t t p : / /c y b e r s i m . n e t / H o l o d e c k / Ho l o d e c k . p h por in the MOSES grid at the ollowing location:sttc_0037/149/224/31.


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2013 US Army ARLSTTC Federal VirtualChallengeby Tonietta A. Walters

Te Federal Virtual Challenge (FVC) is an open, global

Challenge to the world led by the U.S Army ResearchLaboratorys Simulation and raining echnology Cen-ter or the best implementations o chosen ocus areas asdemonstrated in/or with a virtual environment. Winnersreceive recognition, travel and a monetary award. Tisannual Challenge event, previously known as the Fed-eral Virtual World Challenge (FVWC), is conducted toexplore innovative and interactive solutions in virtualenvironments. Tami Grith, Project Manager for En-hanced Dynamic Geosocial Environment (EDGE), is theinitiator and lead o the FVC. She visited MOSES duringofce hours on August 24th, 2012 to share inormation

about the Challenge, the ollowing is a summary o herpresentation.

Te intent o the FVC is to reach out to the real innova-tors in virtual environments and have them demonstratehow they might solve some o the tough problems we, inthe government, are struggling with. Winners receive rec-ognition, travel and cold-hard cash.

Te reason we changed the name o the challenge romthe FVWC to the FVC, was to be more inclusive o variousenvironments. We have space available in Second Lieand in MOSES on a rst come, rst serve basis. Makingthese spaces is meant to be supportive, not prescriptive.You can use whatever environment you choose. In thepast we have received entries in Second Lie, OpenSim,Unity, VBS2, PCs, iPads and even Smart Phones.

Every year we ask the military olk what tough problemsthey are struggling with; then we ask industry what theysee as hot topics. Te challenges ocus areas are in theoverlap area between the two. So this years ocus areasare a demonstration o how to train Critical Tinking/Adaptability in virtual environments and how to seam-lessly do locomotion in a virtual environment. Te lo-comotion topic is ocused on low-cost interace tools; orexample, less than $600 per user. One aspect o the Criti-cal Tinking/Adaptability ocus area is how you measurethe trainees progress; i.e., how do you know that they de-

veloped critical thinking or adaptability skills as a resulto the training.

It is important to note that entries are notwhite papers orconcepts, but demonstrations. Evaluators should be ableto enter a virtual environment and experience the criti-cal thinking/adaptability training. Also, we will replicatethe interace entries in our lab to evaluate the locomotionocus area.

Tami Grifth presents FVC to MOSES participants. Photo Courtesy James Neville


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We award the challenge at the GameTech conference inOrlando. Tis year, the conerence will run rom 17-19April. Awards will likely be on the 18th. Winners o thechallenge will have the opportunity to demonstrate theirentries to the attendees of GameTech and are recognizedduring a lunch session that includes all attendees. Tereare some good videos on the website that show last years

conerence and demo session. Many o the conerenceattendees (just under hal) are government, the rest areindustry and academia. Te opportunity to meet andgreet like-minded olks can be helpul in a variety oways. Some winners gained work opportunities and/orsome additional government contracts due to these op-portunities.

Entering the competition is ree. You submit a webpagethat describes your entry (details on the website). Tedeadline or entries is December 10th, 2012. Tere is noneed or there to be direct military scenarios. A smartphone app would work well, as long as you can make itaccessible to the evaluators. Keep in mind many o theother entries will be in immersive 3D spaces, so it would

have to really bring something nice to the table to becompetitive.

More details about the Challenges ocus areas and in-struction or entries can be ound on the FVC website:http://vc.army.mil. Questions not answered by the web-site can be emailed to [email protected].


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MOSES in A Box Videoby Dave Fliesen

MOSES Youube Channel:

http://goo.gl/uaMN

MOSES in a Box (MIAB) was developed as a portable ver-sion o the Project MOSES virtual environment, which isan open source virtual world using OpenSim technology.MOSES was developed by the U.S. Army LaboratorysSimulation and raining echnology Center in Orlando,Florida to provide an open source solution that can pro-vide virtual environments or training, simulation, andcollaboration.

MIAB Video Screenshot. Photo Located at http://vimeo.com/50647996


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MOSES CommunityResearch ShowcasesVideoby Laxton Consulting, LLC

MOSES Youube Channel:http://goo.gl/uaMN

Te MOSES Community is a proessional, online net-working group researching the ability o OpenSimulatorplatorms to provide independent, high-security, high-perormance access to three-dimensional, online, interac-tive virtual environments. Backgrounds include military,technology, government, education, industry, and arts.Tis Research Showcases Video highlights six researchprojects underway. Shown are: Air Force Research Lab;Science, echnology, Engineering, and Mathematics Lab;Colorado echnical University; XAL Enterprises; Nou-menArt Center or Applied Aesthetics; Laxton Consult-

ing LLC.

MOSES Community Research Showcases Video Screenshot.Photo Located at http://www.laxtonconsulting.com/home/demo/MOSES2_v3_720.wmv


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Broken Tablet is the ofcial newsletter o the MOSES community, approved or public distribution by ARL andpublished quarterly.

Defense Game Tech Users Conference is an annual meeting to advance awareness and use o gaming technol-ogy or military training.

Estate Managers manage one or more regions (simulator resources) and projects in the MOSES grid.

FVC (Federal Virtual Challenge) is an open, global Challenge to the world or the best implementations asdemonstrated in/or with a virtual environment conducted to explore innovative and interactive solutions in vir-tual environments. Winners receive recognition, travel and cash.

Firestorm is a Tird Party Viewer developed or use with Second Lie and OpenSim 3D environments.

MOSES (Military Open Simulator Enterprise Strategy) is a privately-hosted, OpenSim, online virtual environ-ment with stringent security rom hackers.

MOSES Communityis a proessional, online networking group researching the ability o OpenSimulator plat-orms to provide independent, high-security, high-perormance access to three-dimensional, online, interactivevirtual environments. Backgrounds include military, technology, government, education, industry, and the arts.

MIAB (MOSES In A Box) is a portable, publically-licensed version o the experimental Project MOSES virtualenvironment which can be downloaded and installed on standalone individual or enterprise servers.

MOSES Viewer v3 is an ARL-SC implementation o Firestorm suitable or use on the MOSES grid.

OpenSim (OpenSimulator) is an open source multi-platorm, multi-user virtual environment applicationserver.

STTC (United States Army Simulation and Training Technology Center) provides state-o-the-art appliedresearch to develop simulation technologies, including MOSES.

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