War Games: Now More Real Than Ever

Earth is under invasion. Our only hope lies with the team of soldiers who are being trained on massive multiplayer virtual simulators. Sound familiar? It's the plot line of the wildly popular futuristic novel entitled "Ender's Game."

But just how futuristic is the scenario? True, we have yet to be invaded by an alien race. But the U.S. military is already developing massive multiplayer virtual online gaming systems for training purposes. Since 2009, the United States Army Simulation and Training Technology Center (STTC) has been working with the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and private contractors to create a virtual online gaming platform to train soldiers to master strategic skills needed under fire.

Currently, the U.S. army uses numerous simulation tools and online apps. For example, soldiers about to be deployed to Afghanistan might watch detailed videos of a recent skirmish to learn techniques they will require to clear a building where enemy forces are hiding.
lding where enemy forces are hiding. But in 2014, the army tested its first avatar-based multiplayer online training game that simulates conditions on the ground in Afghanistan. The project called MOSES, military open simulator enterprise strategy, simulates a
25-by-25 kilometer Afghan terrain into which 700 trainees can project their avatars. Soldiers will interact with each other as well as with simulated Afghan civilians and enemy combatants. They will have to cooperate as they carry out maneuvers and make good choices, such as which village elders to trust as they collect information they need to carry out a maneuver.

Unlike other gaming environments in which bullets fly in a straight line, ignoring the physics that would determine the course of a real-life bullet, MOSES and its predecessor EDGE (Enhanced Dynamic Geosocial Environment) have created a life-like simulation in which objects and people behave as they would in the real world. STTC Director Douglas Maxwell and his team of government and private engineers have developed a flexible virtual environment using artificial intelligence and advanced computational steering of objects. For example, as soldiers' avatars work to disarm improvised explosive devices (IEDs), MOSES' flexible environment even captures real-time terrain warping in response to an exploding IED.

As teams are working to develop MOSES, EDGE technology has already been adapted to develop another project that will service federal, state, and local emergency agencies and private sector partners across the nation in the event of a terrorist threat. The project, called Virtual Training Active Shooter Response, is an online gaming system that trains first responders for active shooter incidents.

Sacramento police and fire departments were the first to pilot the program in 2013. Trainees were placed in a scenario in which a bomb planted in a hotel sets off a fire. Terrorists are in position picking off people as they try to make it to safety. The game featured a realistic replica of a popular Sacramento hotel with a lobby, restaurant and bar, ballrooms, 27 guest room floors, a basement, and two main entrances. Teams from the different Sacramento city departments, police, fire, and emergency medical services, had to work together to neutralize the threat. Unlike simulations in which individuals work through a computer-generated simulation, this product improves collaboration between different groups of first responders-a valuable skill that is difficult to develop without actually being in the field.

Researchers have found that massive multiplayer online fantasy games tend to encourage addiction and lead to depression, allowing individuals to avoid solving real-world problems. EDGE indicates, however, that developers might be able to produce games that allow people to develop skills necessary to succeed in the real world.

Discussion Questions
1. What purposes do massive multiplayer games serve today? What purposes could they serve in the future?

2. What advantage do projects developed with EDGE have over other training software?

Critical Thinking Questions
1. Do massive multiplayer games serve a useful function in today's society? Why or why not?

2. What types of technologies are used by massive multiplayer games that could be used in other ways?