A Dangerous Game
EARLY THIS YEAR DARTMOUTH'S Institute for Security Technology Studies released Virtual Terrorism Response Academy, a comprehensive PC simulation aimed to train first responders nationwide in dealing with terroristrelated threats. "We wanted a quiet release," says Timothy Elliott, who produced the program, overseeing a collaboration that included academic, federal and local personnel across the country.
"If we had to fix something, we wanted to do it on 1,000 pieces of software, not on a hundred thousand." So far so good. There are about 10,000 copies of the Academy out there today, and they are working in every state.
The Academy is part video game, part classroom. The video part is modeled on Quake 11, the popular firstperson shooter simulation, and takes first responders through a variety of hair-raising simulations, with dirty bombs, chemical bombs, mass casualties, booby traps and just about every other type of man-made disaster. Quake Us code is opensource, says Elliott, and so made a perfect framework for his simulations action sequences. The code works on a wide variety of PCs.
The software was produced with a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, with experts from around the country pitching in as consultants and as the onscreen guides who walk first responders through the various types of equipment and simulations. Programmers at Dartmouth worked on the code for nearly four years, and it looks to have been worth it. "It ought to help a lot of people know what to do," says Elliott.
DID YOU KNOW?
Approximately 20,000 tires were used to make the rubber granules that serve as infill for the Field Turf installed last year on Memorial Field. The total weight of he granules is about 120 tons.
