America's MOVES

Founded in 2000, the Modeling, Virtual Environments, and Simulation (MOVES) Institute , a program at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), has created education and research programs supporting simulation technologies used by Defense and Homeland Security partners to train personnel and to analyze systems for operational effectiveness. The MOVES research program is designed to explore application of emerging technology to critical DoD modeling and simulation needs.

Research focus areas are:

  • 3D visual simulation and networked virtual environments
  • Computer-generated autonomy and computational cognition
  • Human-performance engineering and Immersive technologies
  • Game-based simulation, understanding, and analysis
  • Combat modeling and analysis
The Institute is the birthplace of America's Army, it's first venture into the use of video game technology for defense applications.

The Department of Defense’s Joint Advanced Distributed Learning (JADL) Co-Lab developed an Iraqi Checkpoint course to help military and civilian personnel learn Iraqi Arabic using a virtual simulation solution. Using X3D and the Humanoid Animation standard, the Naval Postgraduate School in collaboration with VCom3D and the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLI-FLC) created virtual humans in 3D simulations that combined gestures, actions, facial expression, visual cues and lip-synchronized speech. The student learns by performing progressively more difficult tasks while communicating with virtual human characters that speak Iraqi Arabic and exhibit culturally appropriate behaviors. The course is interactive and high-resolution, and it is designed to operate either over a very low bandwidth connection or as a stand-alone product. - Web3d Consortium website

The Naval Postgraduate School, located in Monterey, California, is a research university at the graduate level operated by the United States Navy. It grants both master's and doctoral degrees to a student population composed of active duty officers from U.S. and foreign military services, and U.S. Government civilians. The NPS is a major contributor to many open standard working groups and a huge component in the development of X3D Earth. This interview is with Don Brutzman, associate professor at the NPS and veteran developer of web3D technology, at Stanford's Metaverse U conference.


The MOVES Institute is doing some amazing things with 3D web technology and I plan on visiting them soon. Expect to see more blog postings on this innovative institute.

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