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Incident Mgmt & Homeland Security. What makes a virtual world suitable (or not suitable) for preparing for attacks and incidents of any nature. Michael L. Pack, University of Maryland CATT Laboratory. Our Foray Into Virtual Worlds. I-95 Corridor Coalition Consortium of MANY masters:
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Incident Mgmt & Homeland Security What makes a virtual world suitable (or not suitable) for preparing for attacks and incidents of any nature... Michael L. Pack, University of Maryland CATT Laboratory
Our Foray Into Virtual Worlds • I-95 Corridor Coalition • Consortium of MANY masters: • Law Enforcement • Fire & Rescue • Towing & Recovery • Transportation Management • Medical • Media • For the entire East Coast from Maine down to Florida… • More SOPs than you can imagine • More institutional barriers than we anticipated • More diversity of users, education levels, and cultures than we ever considered
What WE see as the advantages • Can be very realistic and engaging (when done well) • Can reinforce communication, teamwork, and incident command structure • Are safer than other methods of training • Can be dynamic • Keeps it interesting • Affords quick and easy variations to scenarios • Can automate performance measures generation, feedback, and iterations
Convincing the masses… • It’s not just about the “environment/world” • We often fail to pay close enough attention to the other aspects of what makes for a successful program • The devil is in the details • Curriculum, trainers, usability, performance monitoring, etc. can be more important than whiz-bang graphics and features Virtual Worlds Proponents Potential Clients & Trainees H Virtual Worlds Technologies y p e
Where should our focus be directed? • Core Competencies & Curriculum Development • Delivery Method • Just because you can be geographically separated doesn’t mean you should be separated… • Usability! Usability! Usability!!!! • System pre-training • Trainer/moderator • Managing trainee expectations • Towing example, FTL shooting example • Performance monitoring & After Action Reviews • Subsystems All Equally Important
Other Applications • Field Clients • FTA • Military • Boy Scouts of America-Eagle Scout Project • Command & Control • Center Communications • Design Acceptance • Persons with Disabilities
Questions For additional information contact Michael L. Pack, Director, CATT Laboratory PackML@umd.edu 301-405-0722