An "agent" in a computer simulation is an object with a dynamic model driving its actions. There are different classifications for agents, for example: autonomous, intelligent, and software. A cell within a cellular automaton might be considered an agent with the complete environment being a multi-agent system. An object containing an artificial intelligence could also be considered an agent. Our purpose is to introduce the "personal" aspect of agents through first-person perspective-by becoming one of the agents in the simulation. When a level of presence on the part of the human's relationship to the agent is incorporated in this fashion, we must incorporate methods found typically within multi-user virtual environments. This tutorial is centered on one particular open-source, multi-user, virtual environment system called OpenSimulator (or OpenSim). We introduce OpenSim to allow the reader an opportunity for understanding how this software is used within the context of agentbased computer simulations.
Computer simulation has been widely deployed by the military for force-on-force based training but only more recently for training researchers, analysts, and war-fighters in matters of cross cultural sensitivity. This latter type of training gives the trainee a sense of "being inside" a target culture. We built the Second China Project as a hybrid immersive, knowledge-based software platform for use in cultural training. Is this training effective? More specifically, what are the effects of immersion on memory and other cognitive variables? We chose to base our research questions, not around a specific user group, but more generally around a category of training system--one involving the use of multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs). We present the architecture of an experiment designed to test whether MUVEs are effective training platforms, and to explain the process used in developing a testing environment to determine the precise nature of that effectiveness. We also discuss lessons learned from the earlier pilot study and ongoing experiment.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.