20

Selecting Media and Platform: An Overview

There are two different methods for creating simulated experiences.

The first method strips away the environment so that it only provides the information tools needed to carry out the behavior. Chapter Twenty-Two goes into great detail about how and why these simulations are built. The keys to much of their success lie in the role that the computer has begun to play in so many operations. In the military, for example, command centers are loaded with computers, which present much of the picture of the battlefield to decision makers who are far removed from it. The simulation then can be delivered on any desktop and, if the information is presented clearly and dramatically enough, the simulation can be extremely effective.

The US Navy has conducted simulations in which ship computer systems are linked together and fed information about a hypothetical naval crisis. Because the computer systems are closed, the simulation can use standard tools to portray the problem, and standard communication systems to respond to it. The systems can further be programmed to show the outcome of the response just as it would be reported through conventional methods. The sailors are on board ship anyway and if the systems can be dedicated to the simulation, it can work amazingly well. But it can work just as well if computers running the same kinds of presentation are set up in adjacent rooms in a training center. What has become clear is that participants in simulations like these focus so intently on their computer screens that they feel completely immersed in the experience and they block out the outside world anyway.

Approach number one, then, is to create a computer system that makes people feel like they are using all the data and communication streams needed to make crisis decisions without necessarily being present in a realistic representation of the environment. And this clearly works well for environments where use of a computer for data collection, collaboration, and communication is central to the effort. But what about those worlds where that is not the case? For example, what about simulating decision making on the battlefield? Or in a manufacturing facility, or on an offshore oil rig?

Can you build an environment in which the participants feel like they are actually on the battlefield? That is, in fact, a very different kind of simulation than that discussed in approach number 1. In this approach the participants see the battlefield, can talk to virtual soldiers who approach them on the battlefield, and only occasionally use tools that are simulations of parts of a broader communication network.

In some sense, this is the opposite kind of simulation than was described in approach number 1 where the environment was torn away and only the information tools remained. This is a system that attempts not only to build the information tools present in the real world, it seeks to construct a navigable 3D model of the entire world.

Why would it be necessary to build a 3D model of the real world rather than simply build a computer system that provides the same kind of information tools a soldier would normally use in the real world? The answer is, “When the information flow is not the same, the sources of information are different and the means of communication are different as well.”

Creating a virtual command center where 3D virtual models of soldiers sit at 3D models of virtual computers and receive data and talk about it, seems like adding a layer of simulation that gets in the way.

Creating a virtual battlefield with 3D models of the encampment and the terrain, with talking representations of the other soldiers who can address you and answer your questions, where you can navigate and see the battlefield results of your decisions, where you can experience the consequences of your performance throughout the simulation, this is a simulation of a different sort. Such a simulation sets out to recreate face-to-face communications as the primary means of intercourse. It swings toward learning situations where the environment itself, and navigation within it, play major roles. It not only represents time but also place—and the dramatic first-hand experiences or consequences derived from the combination. When the learning objectives call for practice and testing within such an environment, the 3D virtual environment is indeed the way to go, and fortunately more tools are becoming available to help designers and producers create such worlds.

Figure 20.1   ALTSIM—multimedia simulation of a computer based communication system.

Figure 20.2   Leaders—a 3D virtual world representing an entire mission site and its personnel.

SELECTING YOUR MEDIA

With the above “Big Picture” guidelines in mind, selecting your media is a bit like choosing your weapon in a first-person shooter (FPS) game. At different times in the game, different weapons are going to constitute the right choice, and others will wind up being the proverbial sledgehammer-trying-to-swat-the-fly: inappropriate from the standpoint of effectiveness and from the standpoint of time and energy (the “currency” of FPS games).

The selection of media should be derived from a complex matrix of considerations. We should look at media from both its bandwidth costs and its economic costs. We should look at its malleability (i.e., how easily can we change it?) as well as its “temperature” (i.e., the relative hotness or coolness of the media, using the classic Marshall McLuhan scale). In addition, we need to evaluate the effectiveness of the media carrying our specific pedagogy, story, and interactive content.

Such a matrix might look like this:

Table 20.1.

Let’s drill down to a more detailed look at these media types.

Text

Inexpensive to create, while requiring very little bandwidth for delivery. (Text can be transmitted via telephony text messaging, e-mail, instant messaging, data broadcasting, fax, or in a “ticker” at the bottom of a television screen.) Text is also easy to manipulate, expand, revise, etc. This clearly includes webpage delivery, embedded word processing documents, and optimized-for-screen Acrobat PDF files (assuming textual content only). The drawback to text is the “coolness” of the medium: as a simulation tool, text is usually nonimmersive and keeps the user at a distance, appealing very little to emotion and instinct. However, the successful text adventure games of the early 1980s argue that text can be very immersive and even emotional, but requires tremendous skill in its creation to achieve this.

Graphics

More financially costly than text, effective graphics will entail either good illustration or photographic resources. Delivery will also entail greater bandwidth, particularly as the size of the graphic increases. (Thumbnail graphics accomplish very little by themselves, whereas full-screen and high-color graphics will have more impact on the user.) Thanks to Photoshop, Illustrator, and other image manipulation tools, we can make many changes to our graphics and as the saying goes, a picture can be worth a thousand words (the emotive and immersive power of a great photo or illustration is something we’re all familiar with).

Audio

While clearly more expensive than text to create, audio can be created or captured without tremendous cost, as the price of a good microphone (along with audio-recording software) won’t break the bank. Audio can also be created using text-to-speech tools (e.g., Dragon Software or Final Draft’s script-to-speech feature). Thanks to compressed audio formats like MP3, bandwidth demands have decreased, enabling real-time delivery of audio (as opposed to the stuttering audio of earlier CD-ROMs and dial-up Internet delivery). Audio can also be manipulated fairly easily using Pro Tools or other audio software. Audio can be very immersive, and can at least be warm if not “hot” in terms of its media “temperature.” In the days of radio drama, audio alone could be amazingly effective (think of Orson Welle’s radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds that created a national hysteria), but this requires particularly good storytelling and writing skills. (We’ll discuss some strategies toward effective use of audio in Chapter Twenty-Five.)

Video

The high cost of video is pretty obvious: to produce professional-looking, full motion video, you have to spend real money. The endeavor becomes much more collaborative and personnel-intensive than the creation of text, graphics, or audio. Don’t be fooled by so-called “reality TV,” for substantial pre-production and substantial time have been required to create this product. Video delivery requires significant bandwidth: we’ve all seen postage-stamp video streamed onto the Web and we know its effectiveness is less than desirable. Delivering reliable full-motion, full-screen video requires a very fat Internet pipe (e.g., a T1 connection) or locally supplied video (via DVD). Another downside to video is the fact that it’s difficult to manipulate once captured: if you’re interested in changing the video, you’ll probably have to go out and reshoot it. However, video is a “hot” medium. Ever been in an airport bar and noticed how everyone’s eyes go to the TV? Well-produced video is almost hypnotic in its power: immersive and often highly emotional and absorbing for the user. However, video’s effective re-use, in an interactive setting, may be minimal. After a couple of times watching the same video clip, a user will probably tire of it (think how different this is from a powerful photo or illustration, which we might view dozens of times, only to have its immersiveness and emotional aura increase for us).

Real-Time 3D Computer-Generated Animation

This is what we know from the world of contemporary videogames. Creating good RT3D is costly. Its bandwidth demands are variable, depending on the rendering engine, terrain quality, number of characters, and other issues; often, the bandwidth needs are considerable. RT3D can be manipulated and edited more easily than video: new terrains can be dropped in, sprites can be added and subtracted, mapping levels can be changed relatively easily. And as we might guess (if we know any teenagers addicted to videogames), it’s a “hot” medium: hugely immersive and capable of engaging us on a visceral level.

Delivering instructional content through one medium alone may quickly become tedious, even if that medium is a RT3D video game. But by judicious use of several media, we can calibrate and control the type of experience we wish to simulate, and can retain and enhance the interest of the user in our simulation. In the next several chapters, we’ll look at how well different delivery platforms handle different media types. We’ll also examine some of the other challenges presented by each delivery platform. Selecting the right delivery platform for our pedagogy, story, interactivity, and media is a critical step in our development path—one we want to get correct the first time around.

SUMMARY

It is possible to teach sophisticated decision-making skills by stripping away representations of the environment and focusing on information systems that are vital to those skills. However, certain kinds of experiences require that the simulation represent the entire environment, including the terrain and the people who are present. These simulations address different kinds of situations and build different kinds of communication skills. This reckoning should be our first test for which media are most appropriate for our simulation.

Media should be evaluated for their costs, temperature, malleability, and ability to further the training objectives of our simulation. No single media type will accomplish everything we need, so we’ll look at how combinations of media function on different delivery platforms. The wrong platform will delay and conceivably derail our project, so the correct decision on platform is crucial.