Modeling and Simulation Linking Entertainment and Defense (1997) / Chapter Skim
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D POSITION PAPERS
D POSITION PAPERS
Pages 115-181
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What are the primary research challenges?
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is the three-dimensional computer graphics interchange file specification that has become the standard for Internet-based simulations. It is being used in many industries, and the momentum of the standard and industry acceptance continues to grow at a fast pace.
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Currently, the military uses distributed interactive simulation (DIS) as the communications protocol for training
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Also during 1997, ISO will officially adopt VRML as the only international 3D metafile format for the Internet. Once the VRML Consortium is operational, the focus of activities will be on continued development of the VRML specification and the creation of working groups.
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APPENDIX D 119 their worlds. Finally, content developers will enjoy the flood of new modeling and programming tools.
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If anything, a person discusses the content or end result as opposed to the NOTE: The industry segment described here is defined as industries that benefit from immersive human-computer interfaces. The term virtual reality is intended to include this definition.
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This can easily intrude on a user's physical and mental environment. The VR industry needs to minimize this intrusion to the point where immersive interfaces are as natural to use as a telephone or mouse.
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Unfortunately, most of the simulators in use today are very expensive, are limited to single-crew training, and are not deployable. Emerging commercial simulation technology, however, may provide a near-term solution to this military training problem.
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Part Two is a list of technology areas that DOD believes have a potential for collaborative development with the entertainment industry. PART ONE: DOD MODELING AND SIMULATION OVERVIEW Vision and Application The foundation for the above set of DOD M&S capabilities will be the development of a common technical framework to maximize interoperability among simulations and the reuse of simulation components.
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. raining Warriors of every rank will use M&S to challenge their skills at the tactical, operational, or strategic level through the use of realistic synthetic environments for a full range of missions, to include peacekeeping and providing humanitarian aide.
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The active duty and reserve components of all forces will be able to operate together in synthetic environments without costly and time-consuming travel to live training grounds. In computer-based training, both the friendly and opposition forces, or computer-generated forces (CGFs)
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Its first objective is the establishment of a common technical framework, anchored by the HLA. The HLA has been defined and adopted as the standard simulation architecture for all DOD simulations.
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Hearing and 3D Sound DOD has initiated numerous efforts to improve the production of 3D sound techniques, but it has not yet been effectively used in military simulations. Providing more realistic sound to a synthetic environment can have two potential benefits for training: (1)
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Coherent Stimuli One area that has not received much research is the required coherent application of the above-listed stimulations to create an enhanced synthetic environment. Although each stimulation may be valid in isolation, the real challenge is the correct level and intensity of combined stimulations.
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DOD would like to enhance its capability for an entire group to interact with a virtual environment and each other without the need for unique individual hardware devices. SUMMARY The DOD vision is to apply M&S to the full range of military applications, including training, analysis, and acquisition.
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Video games are the largest market for consumption of advanced semiconductor technologies; their public acceptance is orders of magnitude higher than that of traditional computer products. In its first six months, 2.7 million units are expected to be sold, increasing to a total of 5 million within the first nine months.
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In this respect, video games are unusual for a consumer product. Each hardware unit in the field must play every game cartridge the same as every other machine.
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The reason that entertainment markets are able to apply technology successfully is that major commitments are made for specific focused objectives of large magnitude. This provides lucrative opportunities for technology companies to provide new solutions.
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Annual budget processes, effects of changing military and civilian leadership on priorities; for example, Army Modeling and Simulation organizations (MISMA, AMSO, DUSA/OR, M&S GOWG) and National Rotorcraft Technology Center funding profile.
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Involve a congressional staff in advisory panel to help shape future mechanisms.
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Integrated media systems will powerfully impact all fields of inquiry and technology. Integrated media systems of the future will seamlessly combine digital video, digital audio, computer animation, text, and graphics into common displays in such a way as to allow for mixed media creation, dissemination, and interactive access in real time.
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The computer's sense of the environment is enhanced through smart-camera-based tracking technology, which in turn is pivotal for both augmented reality applications and the synthesis of an accurate 3D aural environment through immersive sound reproduction. Furthermore, the coupling of these technologies with advances in wireless networks and distributed databases will allow the integration of mobile workstations (personal data assistants)
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The research challenge in this area is focused on the development of technologies for shared integrated media networks. DISTRIBUTED MULTIMEDIA INFORMATION MANAGEMENT An effective methodology for managing large integrated media databases does not exist.
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Advanced human-computer interfaces and enhanced wired and wireless media interconnection and delivery networks cannot function effectively without access to dramatically scaled-up databases that can seamlessly manage multiple media types. Hence, the central integrated media-systems-related issue that must be addressed during the next decade is the storage, indexing, structuring, manipulating, and "discovery" of integrated multimedia information units (MIUs)
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Over the next few years we will be working to provide an academic venue for this technology to be researched, viewed, and understood, with emphasis on entertainment applications. The panel on entertainment applications will be meeting with industrial partners of the center at USC in a review that will occur in November of 1996.
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THE SHIFT TO DISTRIBUTED PROCESSING The solution is to move to a distributed architecture. In a distributed game, each player controls a character on his local machine, so it responds to his actions instantly, with no latency.
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In a distributed architecture, machines control objects locally and broadcast the results of actions to other machines, which receive the information with some time delay. Each machine has immediate responsiveness controlling its own objects but must synchronize interactions between its own objects and objects controlled by remote machines.
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This approach will always have slow reactions because of the speed of light and network overhead, so it will be limited to domains like Quake, where players don't have a true opportunity to dodge bullets. The second approach follows a software technology called distributed interactive simulation developed for military simulations.
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SANDCASTLE'S DIRECTION Sandcastle is developing synchronization technologies that give users the impression that the network has zero latency, or immediate responsiveness. Specifically, the technologies address the problems of interacting with shared objects, like throwing a football between users, and interacting directly with objects controlled by remote machines, as in a fighting game or a race.
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Entertainment simulations, on the other hand, are a medium for the delivery of recreational experiences; the measure of success is not a matter of problem solution or production of information or skill but rather is determined largely by how exciting and enjoyable the experience is for the paying customer. The "fun quotient" of an entertainment simulation is predominantly a matter of art rather than technology; the technical side of the system must be capable of presenting the "story," but the perceived value of the experience hinges largely on the quality of the creative element.
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WHERE IS IT ALL GOING? These contrasts, particularly the last point, create an interesting challenge for the CSTB in its quest to encourage open collaboration between defense and entertainment simulation developers.
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Ultimately, competition will refocus on the creative aspects of entertainment simulations, as developers realize that economy and speed in bringing an idea to market are greater factors in economic success than proprietary technology. Entertainment developers suffer an approach-avoidance conflict over the accelerating pace of technological innovations, both because of the diminishing economic half-life of a development investment and the chaos in the competitive environment that the continuing avalanche of new capabilities will create.
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The cost-effectiveness of networked virtual reality devices will be determined using a multisite distributed laboratory consistent with DOD's High-level Architecture. The STRICOM Engineering Directorate is working closely with the Project Manager for Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS)
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As the user moves on the treadmill, his view of the computer-generated world changes, immersing him into the virtual environment. The Army may use this technology, for example, to rehearse for a mission by walking through a hostile environment beforehand.
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NECESSARY TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES AND PRIMARY RESEARCH CHALLENGES Unfortunately, a phenomenon exists that may pose a threat to the ultimate usability of this new technology. That phenomenon is referred to as "simulator sickness" and it is a well-documented effect of simulator exposure (Reason and Brand, 1975; Kennedy and Frank, 1983; Kennedy et al., 1989; Casali, 1986~.
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As already noted, simulator sickness is related to motion sickness, a phenomenon for which a body of literature exists (Reason and Brand, 1975~. In addition, a body of literature exists for simulator sickness occurring in military flight simulators and, to a lesser degree, other simulators such as driving simulators (Crampton, 1990~.
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Given the great emphasis often afforded to the use of VR technology for training and education, investigation of the effects of sickness on training effectiveness is an important research issue whose time has come. APPLICABLE COMPLEMENTARY EFFORTS As is clear from the above discussion and the references therein, a plethora of complementary efforts both past and present research exist in the area of simulator sickness.
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1989. "The Time Course of Postflight Simulator Sickness Symptoms," Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine 60~11~:1043-1048.
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1995. "Simulator Sickness in Virtual Environments," ARI Technical Report 1027.
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The often-heard chorus is that defense technology has applications in many sectors and the entertainment industry may be one. Yet, for example, in three-dimensional technology the conversion has largely taken place and the fuel of innovation is not Department of Defense (DOD)
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DOD TECHNOLOGY FOR INDUSTRY The entertainment industry has brought simulation technology and synthetic environments into the media mainstream. However, development of the software to enable such simulations is a manpower-intensive endeavor and thus is costly.
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The commercial sector has been very successful in developing two- and three-dimensional visualization software and in creating virtual reality applications. Such tools are more affordably and efficiently created by industry and can be maintained at low cost by a broad customer base.
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It is immediately apparent that there is a great deal of common ground in these two approaches. The military and entertainment industries have been complementary for longer than one might realize.
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In 1991 I proposed to my research laboratory, the Institute for Simulation and Training (IST) at the University of Central Florida, a new initiative designed to bring together entertainment companies with what I saw as the related research we were doing for the government in virtual reality technology.
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The above example of the Toy Scouts is only one suggestion of how the military and entertainment industries can find common ground in academic research laboratories. The entertainment industry could sponsor such groups around the country at military research laboratories, and both groups could reap the rewards.
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INDIVIDUAL PLAY EXPERIENCES Individual play experiences appeal to our need for a self-directed experience, even if done in a social setting. They need to progress beyond individual home or arcade video games and extend the level of interactivity far beyond simple repetitious button punching.
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In the four years of the Scout activity, approximately a dozen new full-body immersive games were developed. It was far cry from the couch potato mentality we might have expected from the video game and TV generation.
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More work needs to be done at this level of team play. SPECTATOR EXPERIENCES An obvious extension to the realm of team play is that of spectator play.
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market from the workstation market. The line between personal computer graphics and workstation graphics will be more rooted in price points, not capabilities.
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The research challenges are to invent the next "big thing" in computer graphics. Our Compu-Scene IV product practically stole the market in high-end military flight simulation and training in 1984 when we introduced photographic-quality texturing to real-time graphics.
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Early on, service- and agency-specific programs were identified to be part of the overall ISIMS program. Based on the three pillars of the Defense Modeling and Simulation Office's common technical framework (conceptual model of the mission space (CMMS)
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From an operational point of view, there are three hard technological challenges facing ISIMS: synthetic environment (SE) , computer-generated forces (CGFs)
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In general, negative military training, which could result from lack of simulation fidelity or ambiguity in a user interface, is considered to be worse than no training at all.
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Computer graphics in visual effects has more to do with what is euphemistically called "hybrid" or "empirical" techniques, and more candidly called "grotesque hacks." The dinosaurs of Jurassic Park were not "simulated" any more than pre-World War II Los Angeles was "simulated" for Chinatown. Certainly, any shot in the latter film has a rich sense of place and time: the office of private investigator lake Gittes is powerfully evoked, and the audience imagines the rest of that world.
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TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES AND RESEARCH CHALLENGES Turnkey animation systems have advanced greatly in the past several years. Such advancements include flexible inverse kinematics that make creature animation practical, particle system front ends that allow complicated dynamic effects, and the big strides in software on Macintosh and personal computer-compatible systems.
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In any event, many effects-oriented movies fail both commercially and aesthetically. The Web, CD-ROM, virtual reality, and other multimedia techniques have been touted as ways to transcend the limits of linear storytelling, to give the audience a richer participation in an imaginary world.
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APPENDIX D 171 certainly the Web will become the preeminent forum for the exchange of commercial and scientific information; its significance will exceed that of the cellular phone, the automated teller machine, the fax machine, and the Home Shopping Network combined. This is not a trivial development.
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In fact, we are part of a wide-area high-speed data network that connects all crew stations of all aircraft, both friendly and hostile. I don't know the total number of nodes on this network, but it must be in the thousands.
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The Eighth Air Force lost 24 B-17s out of a force of 147. Shortly after we cross the French coast the nose gunner shouts "four 109s at 12 o'clock low." The control yoke feels comfortable in my hands as I spin the turret forward.
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Once we got over the Channel I turned over my role to an automatic ball turret simulation and had a quick dinner in the kitchen with my wife. I doubt that the rest of my crew even noticed I was gone.
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Maybe next year. Many other simulated crew stations are built around virtual reality goggles.
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It was the bloodiest for the Eighth Air Force. I think my crew and I are good enough and lucky enough to survive.
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, as demonstrated in recent advances in distributed interactive simulation, not only are the environments more interesting but the technical challenges are also more difficult. It is likely that these will also be the next-generation commercial application for this technology, and so addressing technical issues is timely.
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Design and Manufacture of Affordable Porting Devices that Allow Humans to Enter and/or Interface with These Environments The manner in which the human enters the synthetic environment continues to undergo rapid change. Flight simulators are a good example.
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, and other means of entering the environment, such as while mobile via a wireless personal digital assistant. Design and Management of a Worldwide Simulation Interpret to Connect These Porting Devices in Real Time Small-scale as well as large-scale distributed interactive environments have baseline requirements for latency, which is compounded when a requirement to worldwide entry into environments is added.
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That Accurately Mimic the Behavior of Humans Unable to Be Present Late 1980s experimentation with distributed interactive simulations resulted in the constant pressure to grow the environments in the numbers of participants, but there were never enough porting devices or people to man them to satisfy this growth. Since these environments began as behaviorally rich human-on-human/force-on-force experiences, players demanded that any additional agents brought on via computer algorithm have all the characteristic behaviors of intelligent beings, that is, that they passed the Turing test and would be indistinguishable from real humans a tall order.
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Development of Innovative Applications and Methodologies for Exploiting This Unique Capability The capabilities created through the design and instantiation of a synthetic environment can be unprecedented, making conventional applications and methodologies obsolete. This task recognizes that research is needed on how to characterize these new capabilities and systematically exploit them.
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