The 3D Cellphone

Big computer companies like IBM and HP are developing software that allows you do view highly detailed 3D worlds on modest client machines (see DCV and RGS links below). This is accomplished by doing the rendering on the server side and sending the screen to a number of smaller clients.

Companies like Vollee and OTOY are doing something similar, but targeted at the cellphone. Imagine that you are running a 3D world like Second Life on your cellphone. But, since your phone does not have the compute or storage resources to really do this, all of the rendering is being done on a server and the results streamed to your phone in the form of a digital movie (MP3, Flash video, etc.). Your inputs on the phone are commands to move through the virtual world and interact with the objects there. These commands are carried to a server where the simulation and graphic rendering are done and the finished video frames are streamed back to your phone for you to see. Clearly there will be some video lag between the command and the visual results as the key entries travel to the server, are simulated and rendered, and the results travel back to your phone. if you are old enough you will remember that this is how text entry and order execution worked with the old terminal windows back when "the Internet" meant textual applications on a command line and there was no such thing as "the Web". You may also have seen the gradual evolution of that primitive interface into rudimentary graphic menues as clever people showed that the text could acrually drive a menu system rather than just showing up on a command line.

High-def rendering on all devices will become a reality. A few years ago we thought it would happen through the miniaturization of the GPU so that all phones had an Nvidia or ATI chip in them. But faster networks are making this possible while the GPU remains on the server machine. The connection between the client and server is fast enough that the two seem to share the visualization capability. There may be several technical hurdles to work through, but the community have solved bigger problems than those to get where we are now. Keep looking for great things on small devices.

IBM: http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/deepcomputing/visualization/
HP: http://h20331.www2.hp.com/hpsub/cache/286504-0-0-225-121.html
Vollee: http://www.vollee.com/secondlife
OTOY: http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/20/the-truth-behind-liveplaces-photo-realistic-3d-world-and-otoys-rendering-engine/

20th vs. 21st Century Simulation

We have reached the 21st century. How are military or interactive simulations different in this century than in previous centuries? Are we just going to run them faster than we have in the past? Or are we going to leverage 3D graphics, global networking, gigantic compute and storage servers, ad hoc social networks, the remote sensing explosion, and other technologies to create a fundamentally new product and service? Given the huge changes in computing and communications that have occurred, it would seem criminal to continue creating simulations in the same forms that we have been using for decades.

Simulation in the Dirt

The ADL Implementation Fest included a session in which soldiers from Iraq presented their perspectives on learning, training, and ADL opportunities. SFC Richard Colon from USSOCOM showed a picture of the dust filled tent that he lived in for 5 months. Then he told the audience that in spite of these conditions 80% of the soldiers there have access to a laptop computer, and could make use of ADL if you delivered it on CD or USB stick. This was very surprising. It implies that we really can deliver digital simulation products all the way to the edge of the force. But, as in all other networked systems, the Last Mile will require some special steps. Any desktop, self-guided simulation can be downloaded to a near-by fixed site with infrastructure, then delivered across the last mile on a USB stick. According to SFC Colon the soldiers are equipped to receive these products now. (Note: Colon’s branch is Intelligence, so 80% may not be characteristic of all the units out there – not yet.)

Periodic Table of Simulation

We all learned our chemical elements from the Periodic Table. That curiously arranged graph of elements showed the relationships between the elements and many of their fundamental properties.

Imagine applying that same method to simulation. What are the fundamental elements of simulation? How would you arrange them for meaning in a Periodic Table? Would such a tool be a useful way to convey the core information about our industry?

I have been in this industry for 20 years and have developed a personal mental organization of the core topics. But that is a secret map inside of my head that I have never tried to extract and capture in a concrete form. I think new entrants into this field would find such a Periodic Table extremely useful.

One group has applied the Periodic Table of Elements to the graphical presentation of information. It is one example of how this might be done.

• A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods
  
• Chemical Periodic Table of Elements (just to refresh your memory)
  

Simulation as the 3rd Way of Doing Science

Within DOE they have developed a new perspective on the importance of modeling and simulation. They call M&S “the third way of doing science”. The first way is through observation. The second is through direct experimentation. Faced with so many significant problems for which they cannot do experimentation or perform observation, they are turning to M&S as the tool to understand the behaviors of all of their systems. In their community a “simulation” is an exact, physics-based representation of the real system; a “model” is an aggregate or stochastic representation that estimates behaviors at a higher level because they do not understand exactly what is happening. M&S is the primary method of conducting energy research.

The origins of the phrase “the third way of doing science” seem to be in one of the two documents below

• DOE Publication
  
• Science Magazine
  

Simulation as an IT Service

Simulation systems are becoming increasingly complex. This complexity limits our ability to deliver them to facilities and units. Because large systems require significant professional expertise, large hardware investments, and continuous software updates, there are very few sites that can host these effectively. Imagine that we deliver simulation as a service instead of a product. If the system were hosted in a central, professionally staffed and equipped location, its capabilities could be made available to all soldiers in the world through our growing networks. This would make products accessible to many more units and soldiers than can use them today. The system would also be staffed with the most experienced personnel available, no matter what the location of the soldiers. I have begun investigating the feasibility of delivering simulations in this manner. This must also include determining whether existing products are architected in a manner that will allow this to be done.