Military Simulation and Virtual Training- May the VBS2 Force Be With You
February 24th, 2010
By Ed Heinbockel, President and CEO, Visual Purple, LLC
Something wonderful is happening.
The controlled nature of militaries usually results in standards being pushed down the chain. Refreshingly, we are witnessing a rare phenomenon. Bohemia Interactive and its delightfully robust 3D platform, Virtual Battle Space 2 (VBS2), is taking over militaries worldwide by storm.
This bottom-up emerging standard is a testament to warfighters needing to get things done…now! They found a solution that works better than officially mandated and very expensive top-down solutions. We’re seeing VBS2 as an evolving standard for our military with the Marines leading the way and the Army close behind.
Several important announcements around VBS2 are coming soon. Stay tuned!
Collaboration Technologies- Pass or Fail?
February 22nd, 2010
While collaboration technologies may be a newer form of innovation in the workplace, they offer a way to bring people together to develop ideas and work on projects. From audio and video conferencing to digital whiteboards, all are making it easier to communicate and promote innovation. These “newer” methods of flowing information to the workforce are practical and tend to engage the participants (and in ways critical for today’s geo-dispersed workforce) more than traditional methods. You’ve seen me talk about collaborative virtual worlds in the past while being on the blog soapbox- but what about the other collaborative technologies on the market today?
Specific examples of collaboration technologies include: forums, blogs, wikis, and social networks such as Twitter and LinkedIn. With the business world becoming increasingly distributed, it is only natural that collaborative technologies pick up more steam. Collaborative platforms are popular today; whether they are being utilized to bring together a geographically distributed workforce or decreasing company expenditures on outdated, marginal technologies. There is a value proposition to it all. Through the deployment of collaboration technologies success stories are in abundance with more and more work being conducted virtually. Today’s collaboration and communication tools have transformed the way we do business. Today, collaboration fundamentals are still being established and there are a lot of first-generation technologies that organizations are learning about and adopting.
Forward-thinking companies are already adapting to a host of collaborative technologies. The workforce has been revolutionized by the introduction of collaboration technologies, with many more new technologies to come in the future. As collaboration evolves it will continue to introduce new ways of working. While all providing a new (and improved) method of communication within companies and amongst co-workers. Corporate innovation is an ever-changing landscape and companies must stay up with the latest and greatest to succeed and prosper.
The Ages of Technology
February 18th, 2010
Hanging out with some friends this weekend shed some light for me on the future of computer use. Let’s just say that I witnessed firsthand a two-year old mastering the computer (even though it was just a child’s toy laptop), but nonetheless it was impressive to see. Everything from my Grandfather using Facebook to children as young as two years old having toys that mimic little computers that look very much like a laptop. Growing up I was exposed to computers…but never in a way that today’s generation of children are. So really how young is too young to start a child off with a computer (or computer-like) mechanism? Can’t a child just be a child and go play in the dirt and swing on the swing set? Or are they more likely to play on the computer, immerse themselves in videogames and fast forward through commercials when watching the Disney channel? Even with the all alluring video games such as Wii (although most people that I know that purchased a Wii play more games on it then their children). I am still amazed at how technologically advanced children have become. Perhaps the days of playing with toy trucks and Barbie dolls have gone to the wayside; but can’t a child just be a child anymore? Sure some of these games may be educational, but never the less are they really necessary for such a young age group?
So here’s a scary statistic from Information Week: “Teens and tweens spend an average of 7.5 hours per day playing games, watching videos, and listening to music on their mobile devices.” And yet another eerie thought: “While the impact of so much media consumption is unclear, the Kaiser Family Foundation survey of young people from 8 to 18 years old did find that heavy media users got lower grades than light media users.”
Are You Serious About a Virtual World?
February 16th, 2010
Games.
Oh the tainted “G” word; yes, I said it! Games are great, whether they are played on a board for family game night or on-line such as the perennially popular World of Warcraft. But can a virtual world simulation also be considered a serious game? Well technically, maybe yes. For most outside government training, games are a perfectly acceptable descriptor for some training, but the term of virtual worlds layers in added dimensions (pun intended)… maybe games just does not do justice for what can be achieved in virtual worlds. Games and virtual worlds in the same sentence doesn’t exactly inspire one to think or believe that ‘real’ learning or training value will be realized. Accordingly, we’ve adopted the term “serious virtual world,” kinda works, huh?!
Moving beyond the “game” definition, serious games and serious virtual worlds have much to offer. From elaborate engagement mechanisms such as mini-apps or game elements to questing, all of this begs certain questions: where do you draw the line on what is a game vs. simulation, or can one be both? I say game on!
Adult Learning Techniques- A Monthly Review of Visual Purple Technologies
February 11th, 2010
Visual Purple training simulations offer a blend of Simulation Technology, Adult Learning Interactive Simulation Techniques, and the latest in 3D Visual Imagery. Successfully integrating these elements into cohesive simulations illustrates the power and potential of this training modality.
The Simulation Technology quickly draws trainees into the scenario, rapidly developing a sense of urgency as they are immersed in and engaged by the believable simulation scenario, ultimately living and learning through their interactions. Adult Learning Interactive Simulation Techniques stimulate positive behavioral change in trainees while they train, meaning that improved performance is immediate.
The pre-existing personal experience and formal education of adult trainees has created established habits, information coding, and interpretation methods which need to conform to standard policies and procedures required to achieve the requirements at hand. This past experience, coupled with dominant and preferred learning style, gives trainees the basis upon which to modify and apply their learning processes to meet the changing needs and conditions presented by the simulation. To facilitate the learning experience, Visual Purple employs a variety of Adult Learning Techniques in our decision simulations which include the following:
Being immersed in these proven Adult Learning Techniques and “living the simulation,” better prepares trainees to apply the virtual experiences learned through the decision simulation to the real events they face on a daily basis. This application to real situations produces results-oriented, productive, highly effective and efficient behaviors. Trainees become self-directive since they’ve accomplished the tasks in a simulated setting and are able to apply this virtual experience to new encounters. Their training enables establishment and implementation of their various strategies for success.
Storytelling in Simulations
February 9th, 2010
For those of you that are familiar with Visual Purple’s work you are probably well aware that we are very passionate about the power of story in relation to our simulations (whether they are embedded or virtual world based). We are hard-wired to relate to characters and story. Think about it: What draws you into a movie, simulation, or even a virtual world? ENGAGEMENT is key through the narrative. The narrative is able to drive the player through an entire sequence of events (for you hardcore instructional design types, story really does answer the mail on sequencing) that engages and aids the learner in retaining the materials covered. The storyline also allows the player character a way to become fully immersed in the simulation and also offers a way for the simulation path to branch into a variety of different scenarios based upon the player’s actions or inactions.
You find storytelling in everyday aspects of your life from posting and reading tweets on Twitter to talking on the phone – storytelling is all a part of what we do. Whether in relation to work or on a personal note; storytelling is weaved into our everyday lives…it IS our life! Every person has a story and every simulation has a story, each storyline is unique to the character (whether real or an avatar). By creating a storyline for a simulation to follow, the trainee is better able to interact, be immersed and learn and retain to very high levels. The use of storytelling in the form of simulation is key to immersing the trainee/ learner to train up.
Speaking of Virtual Worlds…(Week of February 1-5)
February 6th, 2010
A weekly wrap-up on what’s going on within the Virtual World sphere and beyond! Click on any of the below titles to read the full story.
Should You Stake Your Claim in a Virtual World?
Quick Stat: U.S. Virtual Goods Market To Hit $1.6B in 2010
Why So Many Organizations Struggle for Success in Virtual Worlds
ITEC Speaker Announcement
February 3rd, 2010
The ITEC Conference held May 18-20th, 2010 in London is Europe’s largest and most established Defense Training and Simulation Conference and Exhibition. ITEC 2010 provides expert insight into the opportunities and challenges driving developments in the Defense Training, Education and Simulation industry, along with hands-on experience of new and proven solutions from world leading defense companies and smaller specialist suppliers. The UK is second to the US in terms of defense training spending and is ideal to play host to Europe’s annual defense training, education and simulation event.
On May 18th, 2010 Ed Heinbockel, President and CEO of Visual Purple will be presenting a session entitled “Embedded Training: Overcoming Challenges to Train the United States Military.” Covered within the session will be the drivers that created and influenced the identification of the need for embedded training and the process employed to produce the simulations. Not for the faint of heart, the harsh realities of a nine month production cycle will be shared along with anecdotes and lessons-learned from both production and client perspectives to include cultural and technical challenges.
Where has all the Virtual World Buzz Gone?
February 1st, 2010
Sure there are a number of stories that hit the media sphere each week regarding virtual worlds, but admittedly some of the buzz around virtual worlds has faded into the background lately. While more virtual world development is being created, the most noise around the virtual worlds sector lately seems to be Metaplace shutting down, real identity names being utilized in Second Life and all of the market predictions for the new year. Many virtual world evangelists are venturing down a new path in naming conventions for virtual worlds such as: immersive 3D, 3D virtual worlds, virtual immersive environments (VIEs), virtual learning/ training environment, enterprise immersive software, collaborative environments, and the list goes on… Could this perhaps be a sign of where the virtual world buzz has gone? More specifically more press is given to virtual worlds targeted at kids/ teens/ tweens rather than the enterprise targeted vw’s. The virtual world universe is quite diverse and I see many more virtual world applications to come in the near future all targeting a variety of user demographics. Although the barriers continue to fall…the broad picture of virtual worlds remain while within this structure change is taking place. Should we still call virtual worlds an emerging technology, or rather switch it to a technology that is here to stay?