Talks of Second Life, World of Warcraft, and other virtual world simulators made me wonder if they were still holding a presence in the internet world. So, I set out in search of virtual life on the interweb. While I found various articles about companies in India using Second Life to predict climate changes, I needed something more relevant to me personally, or at least the United States. That’s when I found the Digital Doppelganger plan for the U.S. Army.
The program would go beyond just a physical doppelganger. Each achievement, and results from training would be inputted into each soldier’s virtual world. If a soldier does poorly on a Physical Training Test, they can expect their virtual doppelganger to be lacking in the same area.
Furthermore, Peter Singer wrote:
“The method threatens to churn out soldiers who are seasoned pros on Xbox – but aren’t cut out of the rigors of real-world war.”
While playing Call of Duty (I will apologize ahead of time for making any false assumptions) your avatar is somewhat of a superhero type. I assume that if you die in battle, your gaming experience isn’t over. In essence, the war and your avatar is on a constant reset cycle. Obviously, this is not the case for the current War in Afghanistan. If you are injured or killed during battle, that’s the end. There is no reset button in the war. The idea that this virtual world can give soldiers an additional outlet to train with other soldiers, while also being more exposed to real life war experiences before being deployed is revolutionary, and amazing.
"The last thing soldiers need, before deploying to a real-life combat zone, is the impression that they've got mad superhero skills." -Katie Drummond
Ashley
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