With the continual rise of virtual words environments such as OpenSimulator (OpenSim) and Second Life (SL) have the ability to be used for positive or negative gains in military warfare in the areas of training (Dawson, 2011). For example, a terrorist could create a virtual representation of a building by using publicly available drafting plans. This virtual representation would serve as scenario based training for terrorists. Additionally this would allow for terrorists of different cells or groups to communicate freely. Policing the virtual worlds may become a necessity to maintain national security. The U.S. Army is currently implementing a program known as Military Open Simulator Enterprise Strategy (MOSES). MOSES runs on OpenSim and is moving towards a Common Access Card (CAC) enabled environment for secure and encrypted communications.

1. FUTURE OF VIRTUAL WORLDS:
DESIGNING VIRTUAL WORLDS
FOR MILITARY SCENARIO PLANNING
AND TRAINING
M.E. DAWSON (1) D.I. BESSETTE (2), J. D. ABRAMSON (3)
and M. OMAR (4). (1) Walden University, 100 Washington Ave
S #900, Minneapolis, MN 55401. (2) The National Graduate
School of Quality Management, 184 Jones Rd, Falmouth, MA
02540. (3) Stratford University, 555 S. Independence Blvd.,
Virginia Beach, VA 23452. (4) Nawroz University, Tenahi Duhok,
Iraq.

2. Abstract
With the continual rise of virtual words environments such as
OpenSimulator (OpenSim) and Second Life (SL) have the
ability to be used for positive or negative gains in military
warfare in the areas of training (Dawson, 2011). For example, a
terrorist could create a virtual representation of a building by
using publicly available drafting plans. This virtual
representation would serve as scenario based training for
terrorists. Additionally this would allow for terrorists of different
cells or groups to communicate freely. Policing the virtual
worlds may become a necessity to maintain national security.
The U.S. Army is currently implementing a program known as
Military Open Simulator Enterprise Strategy (MOSES). MOSES
runs on OpenSim and is moving towards a Common Access
Card (CAC) enabled environment for secure and encrypted
communications.

3. IGI Published Book Chapters
• Dawson, M., Marwan, O., & Abramson, J. (2014)
Understanding the Methods Behind Cyber Terrorism.
Encyclopedia of Information Science & Technology 3rd
Edition.
• Dawson, M., Omar, M., Abramson, J., & Bessette, D.
(2014). The Future of National and International Security
on the Internet. Information Security in Diverse Computing
Environments.
• Dawson, M., Al Saeed, I., Wright, J., & Onyegbula, F.
(2014) Open Source Software to Enhance the STEM
Learning Environment. Encyclopedia of Education and
Technology.

4. Second Life (SL): Military Island

5. SL: Campsite Mock Up

6. SL: Equipment Training

7. SL: MOSES Interrogation Scenario

8. OpenSimulator (OpenSIM)

9. Viewers

10. Scenario Planning

11. Key Terms