RSSNASA to explore strange, new virtual worlds
By Michael Hatamoto | Published January 21, 2008, 11:28 AM
The Learning Technologies Project Office of NASA is actively considering hopping on the video game bandwagon by releasing its own massively multiplayer online game.
NASA has apparently gotten wind of the fact that young people are intensely interested in MMORPG games, and is now actively pursuing the possibility of developing or at least hosting its own game in an effort to renew students' interest in what it calls the "STEM" subjects: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
"A NASA-based MMO built on a game engine that includes powerful physics capabilities could support accurate in-game experimentation and research," according to a NASA request for information (RFI) (PDF available here). "It should simulate real NASA engineering and science missions in a medium that is comfortable and familiar to the majority of students in the United States today."
The US space agency already owns CoLab, a virtual island located in the Second Life virtual world. CoLab lets people outside of the San Francisco Bay Area collaborate with entrepreneurs to help brainstorm new ideas and technologies while conducting experiments virtually.
"Persistent immersive synthetic environments in the form of massive multiplayer online gaming and social virtual worlds, initially popularized as gaming and social settings, are now finding growing interest as education and training venues. There is increasing recognition that these synthetic environments can serve as powerful 'hands-on' tools for teaching a range of complex subjects, including STEM-based instruction. Virtual worlds with scientifically accurate simulations could permit learners to tinker with chemical reactions in living cells, practice operating and repairing expensive equipment, and experience microgravity - making it easier to grasp complex concepts and quickly transfer this understanding to practical problems," the NASA document added.
Video games are becoming an increasingly important tool for government agencies to gain exposure and boost recruitment. A popular example is America's Army, a popular video game used as a recruiting tool by the US Army.
Parties interested in working with NASA have until Friday, February 15 to apply on the NASA LT Project Office.
Why not model energy/conservation/political matrixes in a kind of virtual game and encourage outside input.
I think that might be a useful tool for everyone.
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I believe if they include object editors like space ships and fuel research ingame it will help them as a lot of people have a lot of ideas they want to put into motion. Nasa may as well observe the models and run tests in the virtual world to see if any are feasible. If the aircraft companies build stuff like this they may end up with really better designed planes and a l ot of people will learn aerodynamics and test fly stuff in hte VR. thereby making it easier to test planes ad build better ones. For example : a design created by a user is flying and all the factors affect the plane and the outcome of the game then it will be great.
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The problem with your idea is that all these new plane/ship ideas would be given for free. The person virtually developing them will make no money doing this. I'm not sure how many people will actually contribute to something they're making no money doing. I have many ideas for games, and gadgets, but I would never give them up for free. If no one will pay for my idea (or help me develop it) then I'll let someone else come up with something similar (which has been done) but at least I'm not stabbing myself in the back because I gave it away and made zero while the person I gave the idea to makes millions. It still hurts to see an idea I thought of come to life but at least it didn't come from my brain.
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if no one will pay for my idea (or help me develop it) then I'll let someone else come up with something similar
lol
So...if someone else is going to get paid for your idea you'll.....let someone else get paid for your idea?
The logic behind that is simply astounding...
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I think it's a great opportunity for students, for whom the best outcome wouldn't be to be paid for such an idea, but to be hired instead.
But the idea of open-sourcing the technical advancements in space research (this is basically what it comes to) sounds to me like an extremely important achievement for mankind in general (not wanting to sound like an idealist, here, but come on, ideas must by definition be shared, else, they don't mean anything).
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Fortunately for the rest of us who are deprived of your genius there is an alternative, which in IT is called Open Source.
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