Homeland Security funded virtual worlds

OU to build virtual world for Columbus Police with Homeland Security grant money

Ohio University’s School of Telecommunications and Game Research and Immersive Design (GRID) Lab have won a two-year, $702,000 grant to create a virtual world capable of making the real world safer.

The grant will help fund development of interactive digital environments in 30 high-profile Columbus buildings or sites that could be most susceptible to terrorist attacks, hostage situations or other critical incidents. The funding comes from the Urban Area Security Initiative Terrorism Early Warning Group, a unit of the Columbus Division of Police.

“The GRID Lab development, the multimedia staff and curriculum there fit in well with our purposes for our homeland security project,” said Lt. Fred Bowditch, head of the Terrorism Early Warning Group. “The eagerness of the staff, the knowledge of the staff and the product they can produce are what sold us on Ohio University.”

To build accurate models of the sites, OU team members will employ new technologies such as 360-degree photography, immersive video, global-positioning systems and inertial measurement units (which utilize accelerometers and gyroscopes to enable accurate tracking where GPS is impractical). Each virtual model will contain embedded information about a facility’s history, owner, utility service providers and contacts.

The group also will develop software and hardware that allows first responders to access the data and models on wireless-enabled laptops, whether at a precinct or in the field. Users will be able to call up information tailored to a specific area to design an appropriate response.

School of Telecommunications Director Roger Cooper, principal investigator for the project, said he’s excited about the undertaking — the first collaboration between this Terrorism Early Warning Group and academia — because it will offer a glimpse of what media and law enforcement can accomplish together by harnessing new technologies.

“What we do will have important implications for national security and law enforcement because we will help enhance the effectiveness of emergency response,” Cooper said. “The video imaging network will make emergency response more reliable and will enhance first-responder preparedness.”

Scripps College Dean Gregory Shepherd said the grant will serve as platform to showcase the talents of the college’s faculty and staff. The project will begin in spring 2008 and conclude in fall 2009.

This article was written by Erin Roberts for Outlook, the Web site of Ohio University’s Department of Communications and Marketing.

Seems they could have saved some money just using google earth and sketch-up.  If nothing else this continues to demonstrate the utility of virtual worlds for planning purposes – something that can be used offensively and defensively.  

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Counter-Terrorism blog

I am doing a stint over on the Counter-Terrorism Blog.

There is a growing interest in the intersection between security, terrorism and technology so I accepted an invite to participate. I will however, still be posting comment relating to the security of virtual worlds on this site.

First CT-blog entry is here.

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Arrest in virtual theft case

 

‘Virtual theft’ leads to arrest

From BBC –

 

Habbo Hotel users create a character and can buy furniture

A Dutch teenager has been arrested for allegedly stealing virtual furniture from “rooms” in Habbo Hotel, a 3D social networking website. The 17-year-old is accused of stealing 4,000 euros (£2,840) worth of virtual furniture, bought with real money.

Five 15-year-olds have also been questioned by police, who were contacted by the website’s owners.

The six teenagers are suspected of moving the stolen furniture into their own Habbo rooms.

A spokesman for Sulake, the company that operates Habbo Hotel, said: “The accused lured victims into handing over their Habbo passwords by creating fake Habbo websites.

“In Habbo, as in many other virtual worlds, scamming for other people’s personal information such as user names has been problematic for quite a while.

It is a theft because the furniture is paid for with real money Sulake spokesman

“We have had much of this scamming going on in many countries but this is the first case where the police have taken legal action.”

Habbo users can create their own characters, decorate their own rooms and play a number of games, paying with Habbo Credits, which they have to buy with real cash.

“It is a theft because the furniture is paid for with real money. But the only way to be a thief in Habbo is to get people’s usernames and passwords and then log in and take the furniture.

“We got involved because of an increasing number of sites which are pretending to be Habbo. People might then try and log in and get their details stolen.”

Six million people in more than 30 countries play Habbo Hotel each month.

Virtual theft is a growing issue in virtual worlds; in 2005 a Chinese gamer was stabbed to death in a row over a sword in a game.

Shanghai gamer Qiu Chengwei killed player Zhu Caoyuan when he discovered he had sold a “dragon sabre” he had been loaned.

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The rise and fall (and rise again!) of IGE

Many thanks to PJ for emailing me about a recent article on mmobux.com looking at the rise and fall of IGE and it’s power in the secondary market. It’s an excellent read and an outstanding case study, indeed, I’m considering using it as a teaching case with my students as it explains the issues very well.

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Virtual Worlds Forum Conference Coverage @ London

I must make an admission. London is my home town, Virtual Worlds is my research area, and I didn’t quite make it. The reason? Well, considering the facts, and given how few of these kinds of conferences quite literally are on my back doorstep I can’t really come up with a good one other than I had a heavy teaching schedule that week. Fortunately I one of my academic friends did go and gave me the full and detailed report afterwards.

The conference obviously attracted a lot of press quite a lot of which is obviously quite good for the industry and the virtual worlds, however while Lord Triesman’s comments hit the headlines with Rod quite rightly highlighting this story, the untold story of the conference was actually hidden away in what exactly the delegates where discussing. On Friday 26th October 2007 and entire stream was dedicated to “Risk, Reputation & Virtual Worlds” covering issues over IP, privacy and Brand Rights with an interesting workshop (which my friend attended) regarding the status of e-money and the Real Money Trade.

Those of you though, who like me, missed the entire thing, I highly recommend having a look at the podcasts archive.

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Lord Triesman @ the Virtual Worlds Conference in London

Lord Triesman – minister for Innovation and Universities in the UK commented on virtual worlds from a government perspective at the conference in London.

Most interestingly he said he hoped the operators of the worlds would take a lead in regulating the worlds – something which hasn’t happened yet.  He also stated there was a certain inevitability about government involvement where children are concerned.

This is arguably the challenge facing virtual world creators – to regulate themselves before government does.

Link. 

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EU law to combat Internet Extremism

The EU is seeking to combat the use of the Internet by terrorists by making the creation of web sites that encourage violence or explain how to make bombs a criminal offence.

Link to news.

No mention of virtual worlds yet.

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