3Dsolve Selected to Join America’s Army Development Team

Simulation Learning Leader Contributes Serious Gaming Expertise and Proven Military Track Record

CARY, N.C. (September 20, 2006) — 3Dsolve Inc., The Simulation Learning Company, today announced that it has been selected to join the America’s Army development team—more than a dozen government organizations and private software firms working together to create authentic military training and deployment simulation scenarios.

While America’s Army is probably best known as the creator of one of the five most popular PC action games played online, with almost seven million registered users and over 2,000 game servers, it was initially built as a recruiting tool and originated in the U.S. Army’s Office of Economic Manpower & Analysis. As the number of organizations that built applications on top of the America’s Army platform grew, the Software Engineering Directorate at Redstone Arsenal, AL, was selected to manage the effort. Today the $13 million platform boasts nearly 30 completed or in-progress projects to date and is managed by 60 full-time government employees and contractors at a variety of sites across the nation.

Members of the America’s Army development team gain access to an extensive repository of training objects and articles, allowing them to build upon existing objects and accelerate the delivery of training applications. America’s Army also provides partners with access to Unreal Engine 3, the complete game development framework for next-generation consoles and advanced PCs.

“3Dsolve brings together a unique combination of deep computer gaming experience, proven simulation learning expertise, and a solid understanding of how to work with military customers,” explained Chris Chambers, deputy director of the Army Game Office. “We expect them to make immediate contributions to the America’s Army program, and to help even more organizations take advantage of simulation learning solutions based on the America’s Army platform.”

3Dsolve is proud to be the only America’s Army team member with US Army Training and Doctrine Command validated, SCORM-compliant, Level 4 Interactive Multimedia Instruction experience, having successfully delivered e-learning solutions to a number of commands within the Army and other branches of the US military. As a member of the America’s Army development team, 3Dsolve can offer Department of Defense (DoD) and civilian federal agencies a streamlined approach to America’s Army-based opportunities and a simplified contractual process.

“We look forward to helping our government customers benefit from this new partnership and this outstanding training platform,” said Richard Boyd, chief executive officer of 3Dsolve. “We’re also excited about the opportunity to reach other organizations through the Army Game Office’s extensive network of partners and customers.”

About America’s Army
In 1999, US Army recruiting numbers hit their lowest point in 30 years. As a result, the US Congress approved aggressive and innovative military recruiting efforts. With a $2.2 billion recruitment budget, the DoD set out to revamp the Army’s image. In addition to a new slogan and NASCAR racing team sponsorship, an Army Game Project was developed by the MOVES Institute at the Naval Postgraduate School. On 4 July 2002, the first version of America’s Army for the PC was released at a cost of $7.5 million. Popularized by free distribution, free servers, and gameplay and quality compatible to leading commercial games, America’s Army quickly gained popularity. In addition to the PC version, there are now Xbox and PlayStation versions available. For more information and free game downloads, visit America’s Army online at http://www.americasarmy.com.

About 3Dsolve
3Dsolve, The Simulation Learning Company, creates collaborative simulation learning solutions for government, military, and corporate applications, a market estimated to reach $37 billion by 2011. 3Dsolve’s simulation learning products use realistic, interactive 3D graphics, based upon industry standards, enabling users to learn by doing. In each of the last three years, 3Dsolve has been named as one of Military Training Technology magazine’s Top 100, the “companies that have made a significant impact in the military training industry,” with special awards for innovation and rising status in 2005. 3Dsolve’s headquarters are in Cary, North Carolina, near world-renowned Research Triangle Park. Visit 3Dsolve on the Web at http://www.3dsolve.com.

LandWarNet Goes to School

Interesting initiative by the US Army
http://tinyurl.com/mdsgc

The Army’s vision of a comprehensive network linked by everything-over-Internet-Protocol technology is taking shape in human form at Fort Gordon, Ga., with the initiation of LandWarNet University.

By Karen E. Thuermer

The Army’s vision of a comprehensive network linked by everything-over-Internet-Protocol technology is taking shape in human form at Fort Gordon, Ga., with the initiation of LandWarNet University (LWN-U). The Army Signal Corps’ newest training environment started in February and is expected to be fully operational by October.

LWN-U was funded with $30 million earmarked by the Army to update its training infrastructure and organization at the Signal Center. The goal is to train soldiers to operate mobile IP networks.

It is one of a handful of top Signal Center priorities that also includes supporting the global war on terror, transforming the Army Signal Center training, modernizing signal equipment, and restructuring the Signal Force. These efforts are vital to the Signal Center and the Army as a whole, said Brigadier General Ronald Bouchard, deputy commanding general/assistant commandant for the Army Signal Center and School.

“LWN-U has the potential to be larger than the Signal Center itself,” Bouchard said. “We will be providing training and support to warfighters.”

LandWarNet represents the Army’s constellation of computer and communications networks under the DoD-wide Global Information Grid (GIG), which provides the platform through which all networks are able to communicate. The concept includes all Army networks, from sustaining military bases to forward-deployed forces, and supports users around the world.

But soldiers and military leaders must be educated on LandWarNet, which includes technology that may extend far beyond the legacy systems on which many have been trained. That’s where LWN-U comes in.

The mission of LWN-U “is to continuously train and educate soldiers and leaders from the classroom to the battlefield by integrating training between multiple enabling organizations in order to provide network-enabled battle command in support of leader-centric operations.”
The training needs to span the entire Army among multiple enabling organizations, Bouchard emphasized. “This includes its colleges and centers, Battle Command Training Centers (BCTC), and Centralized Training Support Facilities (CTSF). The concept of LWN-U is to synchronize these domains to better train and educate soldiers when and where needed.”

To achieve that end, LWN-U sets out to change the way signal soldiers are trained and updated in their skills for their military occupational specialty, so that they think about how the Army works with the other services in the realm of Joint Task Forces.

“We want to provide training for certainty and educate for uncertainty” Bouchard said. “Through education we can provide the appropriate foundation for soldiers to think on their feet in the complex world they are operating in.”

The benefits of LWN-U are already evident to one student, Warrant Officer Michael Bailey. “Here they supply us with all of the equipment and the instruction that ties well in one class to another,” he said. “In the past when I went to school, we did not have the equipment. They gave us the training at the unit, and every unit was trained differently. LWN-U makes it easier not only for a solider, but for the leader as well. Now that I’m being trained as a leader, I will be able to give my soldiers the training I receive.”

Multifunction Signaleers
A key issue facing LWN-U is to prepare soldiers to handle a wide range of changing COTS-based systems in a variety of situations, rather than master a small number of proprietary systems based on standardized equipment.

“If we educate soldiers on how to utilize equipment across the board, they will have more flexibility and adaptability in a wider host of situations,” Bouchard said. “In turn, this type of training allows the Army to take advantage of the latest and greatest technology available.”
That’s why constantly updating training is important. A soldier may have been trained on the legacy Mobile Subscriber Equipment (MSE) System, but the Army can not afford to be locked in a position where it must find outdated replacement parts if this equipment breaks down.
Consequently, soldiers at LWN-U will now be educated on the fundamentals of the equipment.
“The goal is to create a multifunctional signal soldier, whereas today, one signaleer may be responsible for installing radio systems while another may be the switch operator. The new paradigm may require a soldier to be capable of handling both tasks. The idea is to streamline the number of military occupational specialties.”

Even the method of instruction has changed. “In the past, classroom instruction revolved around formal presentations. Then soldiers were trained on equipment,” Bouchard said. “Once they were proficient on the equipment, they would proceed to the next lesson.”

But today’s generation of soldiers learn differently. “They are much more hands-on,” he explained. “The training strategy is to support learning in all phases so that the soldier will be a contributing member of the unit from day one. In fact, those who are being trained [in July] may be in Afghanistan and Iraq before the end of the year.”

Given this immediacy, soldiers are initially put into an advance immersion environment that replicates a contemporary operating environment. “This advanced immersion allows them to acquire common technical skills in a complex tactical environment,” Bouchard said.
The soldiers then progress into their core competency training, where they are educated on their specific specialties. The soldiers’ training and education is culminated in a capstone exercise that allows them to demonstrate their skills in a tactical environment.

To accommodate this change, the Signal School House has been revamped to provide more relevant and rigorous training with equipment simulations and hands-on equipment. The School House has been re-fitted with modular classrooms and training labs for the Joint Network Node, the system developed by the Army to meet the communications needs in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Simulation packages, especially those on the Web, make it possible for soldiers to practice their skills until proficient. They then go onto hands-on equipment,” he explained. “This allows the soldiers to progress at their own pace.”

Another initiative is to make every classroom an environment that emulates a Command Post. This objective is to produce signal soldiers and leaders who can operate over the full range of the GIG, are prepared for the complexity of the network, capable of maneuvering the network in support of full spectrum operations and able to integrate information systems and battle command, and understand the capabilities of LandWarNet.

Virtual School House
The ultimate goal is to provide LandWarNet education via lifelong learning anywhere the soldier or leader may go during their career in the Army. This will be accomplished by LandWarNet-eUniversity (LWN-eU). LWN-eU is the Army’s new virtual continuing education tool that was launched in April.

“From LWN-eU the soldier can acquire what LWN information they need to know to include learning via equipment simulations,” Bouchard said. “The soldier can even access and download LWN-eU deployed anywhere in the world to include Iraq and Afghanistan.”

LWN-eU can also operate like a Virtual Extension Campus delivering distance education programs. Some recent LWN-eU Virtual Extension Campuses were established for the 22nd Signal Brigade in Baghdad, 506th Regimental Combat Team at Fort Campbell, Ky., and the 7th Signal Brigade in Germany.

Another objective for LWN-eU is to support training and education throughout the Reset, Train-up, and Ready cycle of the Army Force Generation (ARFORGEN) Model. Other objectives include the development of career maps that map and record a soldier’s military and civilian education opportunities to obtain college credits for the completion of university degrees or certifications.

“As soldiers get credit, this would go on their automated transcripts,” said Bouchard. “This system would also tell soldiers what specific skills they need as they progress in their careers. Ideally, the system would work with a number of colleges and universities to link a cooperative degree program. The goal is to become a more professional Signal Corps.”
As the Training and Doctrine Command’s executive agent for lifelong learning, the Signal Center continues to explore ways to deliver Web-based training in support of resident and non-resident training and education. This also includes ways of collaborating with other services on the sharing of LWN-U training products.

“Besides our Virtual Training Campuses, we are looking at ways of supporting training at unit locations by putting network trainers on site and conducting standardized training tailored to the commander’s needs and requirements,” he explained. “The concept is that the more training we are able to do at the unit level this reduces the amount of training the soldier will require in the School House for future training.”

The LWN-eU is already attracting attention from other branches of the military. In June, Marine Brigadier General George Allen, director for command, control, communications and computers and chief information officer for the Marines, visited Fort Gordon to review ways to include LWN-eU training products in that service’s schools.

On the corporate side, executives from Cisco have also paid LWN-U a visit. “They were enthusiastic to see what we are doing,” Bouchard said. “We are leading the way in using equipment simulations in training.”

The expected outcome of this training and education initiative is to create a more agile and adaptive soldier and leader. Brigadier General Randy Strong, commanding general of the Signal Center and School, sees the future of the Signal Regiment as “the provider and integrator of information through network-centric information technology systems. We must be the Tactical Operation Center’s information systems integrator and enable information management/knowledge management for the warfighter.”

Some Online Video Games Found To Promote 'Sociability'

Interesting food for thought-
http://www.emaxhealth.com/7/7080.html


Online Video Games and Sociability

Hang in there, parents. There is some hopeful news on the video-gaming front. Researchers have found that some of the large and hugely popular online video games - although condemned by many as time-gobbling, people-isolating monsters - actually have socially redeeming qualities.

In theory, anyway. After examining the form and function of what's known in the trade as MMOs - massively multiplayer online video games - an interdisciplinary team of researchers concludes that some games "promote sociability and new worldviews."

The researchers, Constance Steinkuehler and Dmitri Williams, claim that massively multiplayer online video games function not like solitary dungeon cells, but more like virtual coffee shops or pubs where something called "social bridging" takes place. They even liken playing such games as "Asheron's Call" and "Lineage" to dropping in at "Cheers," the fictional TV bar "where everybody knows your name." "By providing places for social interaction and relationships beyond the workplace and home, MMOs have the capacity to function much like the hangouts of old," they said. And they take it one step further by suggesting that the lack of real-world hangouts "is what is driving the MMO phenomenon" in the first place. The new conceptual study was published in early August in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication under the title, "Where Everybody Knows Your (Screen) Name: Online Games as 'Third Places.'"

Steinkuehler is a professor of education at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and Williams is a professor of speech communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The term "third places" was coined in 1999 by sociologist Ray Oldenburg to describe the physical places outside the home and workplace that people use for informal social interaction. Steinkuehler and Williams argue that online spaces, such as those found in massively multiplayer online video games, should also count as third places for informal sociability, "albeit new and virtual places." MMOs are graphical 2- or 3-D videogames that allow players, through their self-created digital characters or avatars, to interact with the gaming software and with other players, to build "relationships of status and solidarity." While still in-game, players can hold multiple real-time conversations with fellow players through text or voice.

The games the researchers studied - "Asheron's Call I and II" and "Lineage I and II" - represent "a fairly mainstream portion of the fantasy-based MMO market," the authors wrote, where rewarding players for cooperation and the formation of long-term player groups or "guilds" is part of the game. Game play in MMOs is not a "single solitary interaction between an individual and a technology," the researchers wrote, "but rather, is more akin to playing five-person poker in a neighborhood tavern that is accessible from your own living room." Steinkuehler and Williams also found that participation in such virtual third places "appears particularly well suited to the formation of bridging social capital - social relationships that, while not usually providing deep emotional support, typically function to expose the individual to a diversity of worldviews," they wrote. "In other words," Williams said, "spending time in these social games helps people meet others not like them, even if it doesn't always lead to strong friendships. That kind of social horizon-broadening has been sorely lacking in American society for decades."

Over the last few years, Williams has published a number of studies that have challenged the common and mostly negative beliefs about game playing. For his work on online games as third places, Williams drew on an earlier study of "Asheron's Call," for which he combined survey research and experimental design and focused on "issues of social capital and real-life community," he said. He even played the game and conducted 30 random interviews, asking players about their motivations for playing, their in-game social networks and their life outside the game. "There were both positive and negative outcomes," he said.

In her earlier study of cognition and learning in massively multiplayer online video games, Steinkuehler conducted a two-year ethnography of the "Lineage" games, her goal being to explore the kinds of social and intellectual activities in which gamers routinely participate, including individual and collaborative problem solving, identity construction, apprenticeship and literary practices. She conducted repeated interviews of 16 key informants throughout the study. Their overall conclusion in this newest study: "Virtual worlds appear to function best as bridging mechanisms, rather than as bonding ones, although they do not entirely preclude social ties of the latter type."

While they continue to draw fire from many critics, massively multiplayer online video games attract more than 9 million subscribers worldwide, who spend on average 20 hours a week "in-game."

"To argue that their MMO game play is isolated and passive media consumption that takes the place of informal social engagement is to ignore the nature of what participants actually do behind the computer screen," the authors wrote. Still, they suggest that heavy game play might not be healthy in the short term for people who need strong connections, since it could take the place of strong offline relationships. "It's really a question of what kind of balance the person has in their life," Williams said. "For that reason, online spaces are not a one-size-fits-all phenomenon that can simply be labeled 'good' or 'bad.' " The authors suggest that now may be a good time to reconsider how new media are affecting people. "Perhaps it is not that contemporary media use has led to a decline in civic and social engagement, as many have argued, but rather, that a decline in civic and social engagement has led to a 'retribalization' through contemporary media."

Harvard course to be offered as an Extension/Distance education through virtual world

CyberOne Course Announcement

Prof. Charles Nesson, co-founder of the Berkman Center, and Rebecca Nesson will be offering the first Harvard course to be open to the public as well as the the first Harvard course to be offered as an Extension/Distance education through virtual world Second Life.

Check out this video. In it the Nessons explain the substantive focus of the course, as well as how everything will be coordinated. For more information, including taking the course, please visit http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/cyberone.