Human Mosaic Systems Blog

"Wicked Problems and MUVEs"

"Wicked Problems and MUVEs"

vimeo link to video presentation: http://vimeo.com/27602406

In designing instructional virtual worlds, there are 3 levels of instruction that are geared to address the “Wicked Problems” in Multi-User Virtual Environments : those unpredictable consequences of human interactions that *are* complex systems!

Learners today need to learn skills they can utilize in ever changing contexts that they have never seen before or even imagined, and be able to utilize those skills in collaborative environments.

Today, learning environments need to incorporate an understanding of
* group dynamics;
* complexity (those unseen dynamics that have dramatic impact when you least expect it!);
* and collaboration skills.

Virtual Simulations and Complex Human Dynamics_Human Mosaic Systems, LLC

Video overview of Human Mosaic Systems, LLC's products and services:

  

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBXBgnSTcOw

Who we are

• HMS is a Solution Provider in Second Life that also designs virtual environments with an eye towards the psychology of the avatar, group dynamics, and the virtual space. 
• We help clients navigate Living Human Systems and their complex dynamics through design and facilitation. We focus on the 4 core aspects of Complex Human Systems:
  • Group Dynamics,
  • Building Relationships,
  • Identity, and
  • Storytelling.
• HMS creates powerful immersive environments and teaches individuals interpersonal skills that enable self-organization/ collaboration, and a deeper understanding about their own perspectives or views of reality, as well as those others.
• We build environments that understand the underlying complex human dynamics and help facilitate the building of relationships, facilitate bonding, and greater understanding. All of which helps individuals collaborate as they make decisions in complex ever changing environments.
• HMS provides rich storytelling environments to enable individuals to build community, share perspectives and obtain greater understanding about ourselves and our views of reality. This greater awareness leads to a change in the way we think, impacting our interactions with others.

What we do

• We at Human Mosaic Systems, LLC design immersive environments and provide scalable modules that facilitate communication and group dynamics skills, enabling creativity, self-organization, collaboration, flexibility, and deeper understanding of human dynamics.
  • Our program and builds give people the opportunity
    • to practice their skills,
    • to learn as the environment changes, and
    • to adapt their perspectives and behavior to meet those changes using a scalable learning system and facilitative group process that enables greater understanding of themselves and others, expanding perspectives, and making decisions about how to proceed in an ever changing complex environment.
• In addition, with underpinnings steeped in counseling psychology principles we facilitate complex group dynamics through a simulation process that is scalable and able to help individuals and groups make decisions, develop social networks/relationships, and obtain emotional commitment while working together in complex environments.
  • The Heart of the Process is the self-organizing key found in emergency response situations.
  • It can also be used in a broad array of situations ranging from Project Reviews, Organizational Change, Individual Leadership Coaching, Community Development, to Strategic Leadership.
  • Paired with immersive 3D simulations and/or Storytelling, the process allows participants to gain a deeper kinetic understanding of their views of reality, as well as to understand and accept others' views. The module allows you to add more interactive related simulations to gain deeper understanding of the principles and dynamics at play, as well as an ability to practice what you have learned and reflected upon.

Virtual World Learning and Training Partnership Formed

Cranial Tap joins forces with Innovative Decisions and Human Mosaic Systems to deliver comprehensive human understanding and solutions to virtual learning environments. www.prweb.com  ; http://lnkd.in/QT2g4T

Round Hill, Va., November 16, 2010 — Cranial Tap, Inc., a leading developer of virtual world solutions, announces a partnership with Innovative Decisions, Inc. and Human Mosaic Systems. The partnership will bring new capabilities and technologies to the virtual world learning, training and simulation fields.

Backed by proven cognitive decision-making technologies, students and trainees will benefit from critical thinking systems based upon dialog theory. Training no longer needs to be a series of static steps. The new partnership will offer dynamic processes that evolve to reinforce subject judgment. Training variables can dynamically change to accommodate choices made by individuals, and groups.  Simulated scenarios can be played out in endless configurations as driven by data, interactions, dialog and choices made. Virtual characters, or bots, will be programmed to interact intelligently and be capable of reason. Through these solutions, trainees will receive a realistic exposure to life situations.

Through the new partnership, a deep understanding of human psychology and social behavior will be applied to virtual learning simulations. Using scientific approaches, learning scenarios will anticipate human behavior to deliver maximum educational benefit. The introduction of the human element into complex training creates a more meaningful and rewarding learning experience for individuals and groups alike.

 Global corporations, institutions of higher learning and organizations are using virtual reality systems at an increasing rate. Virtual environments are effective in connecting dispersed team members, reducing travel costs, minimizing the need for physical space and high rates of subject matter retention. Visual learning and training environments allow individuals to experience situations without risk to human life or property.

Examples of learning and training scenarios in virtual world environments include nurse and technician training, commercial safety, group critical thinking exercises, product and facility orientation, scientific and academic research, workplace relationships and emergency preparedness.

“We are excited about this new partnership and the value it will deliver,” said Dave Levinson, President of Cranial Tap. “Organizations are seeking more effective and engaging ways to train their staff and students. This new joint relationship offers deep insight and knowledge that will take learning environments to new levels.”

Dennis Buede, President of Innovative Decisions, added “Our intelligent agent technology can dramatically improve the effectiveness of virtual training and education applications. We are enthusiastic about applying this technology, Dynamic Decision Networks, to the critical task of dramatically increasing the productivity and value of an organization’s most critical resource, its people.”

“Human Mosaic Systems is very excited to be a part of this partnership with Cranial Tap and Innovative Decisions”, said Beverly Gay McCarter, President of HMS. “The unique combination of each of our companies’ skills will help to move the field forward in realizing the incredible power and potential of 3D immersive environments, especially with regard to facilitating individual and group learning and interactions.”

About Cranial Tap, Inc.

Cranial Tap, Inc. is a leading virtual world development firm located in the metro Washington, DC area. The company supports corporations, universities and organizations around the world in the development of 3D environments embedded with productive technology solutions. With a focus on virtual learning and training solutions, the company designs and constructs highly interactive spaces with effective results. More than 500,000 people have been trained using their innovative solutions geared specifically to virtual world environments. As denoted by Linden Lab, parent of Second Life, the firms is recognized as a Gold Solution Provider. Cranial Tap’s clients include Corbis, Cognizant, AOL, 1-800-Flowers, Michigan State University College of Nursing, NIC USA, and University of Virginia. Website: cranialtap.com.

About Innovative Decisions, Inc.

IDI specializes in using analytical methods and models to bring insight and closure to decision makers. Our methods include decision and risk analysis, modeling and simulation, systems engineering, performance measurement, and facilitated group decision conferencing. Our Dynamic Decision Network technology has been implemented for dozens of applications associated with the Army’s Future Combat System. IDI’s analysts have decades of successful experience applying these methods to agencies in the Intelligence Community, the services and agencies in the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and government contractors. Website: www.innovativedecisions.com.

About Human Mosaic Systems

Human Mosaic Systems facilitates human systems through designing robust 3D immersive environments with the complex dynamics of individuals and groups, their avatars, and the virtual environment in mind. We are architects who understand how individual and group dynamics in the physical world extend into 3D immersive or virtual environments and design spaces and courses/workshops with a deep understanding of how these complex dynamics impact organizations, teams, and individuals. We can help organizational leaders develop greater understanding and abilities to help meet the new challenges facing organizations in today's fast paced complex world. Website:  www.humanmosaicsystems.com.

Contacts

 For Cranial Tap:

Nancy Ritchie
703- 879-8499
info@cranialtap.com

 

For Innovative Decisions:

Dennis Buede

703-861-3678
dbuede@innovativedecisions.com

 

For Human Mosaic Systems:

Beverly Gay McCarter

 731-431-1596
bgmccarter@hmsystems.net

 

 

A 3D virtual training scenario using programmed dialog

An Artistic Exploration of What is an Avatar by Glyph Graves

 "Antarctica- An Individual Existence" by Glyph Graves. A dynamic, live data feed piece.

Artwork Machinima link to "Antarctica - An Individual Existence"

Glyph Graves is considered one of the great artists in Second Life. In real life he is a geneticist and evolutionary biologist in Sidney Australia. ( You will find one of his interactive pieces, Organic Recurve, at my HMS site. Google him to read more about his incredible installations, including those with IBM and to see the wealth of stunning images of his many works.).

His work has won numerous awards and often finds creative ways to push narrative immersion into the conversation of the work. Glyph's and other SL artists' works drive me to find a way to take this brave new direction they are taking and incorporate it into the immersive environment of 3D simulations to help create paradigm shifts in our understanding of the world around us.

This recent unique artwork shown in the machinima linked above explores the concept of what is an avatar through the use of live feed data.

Description of the dynamic live data feed piece, "Antarctica - An Individual Existence":

Created in Second life using real time data from 19 automated weather stations in Antarctica

Antarctica .. a continent of of ice, rock and wind that for most of its frozen expanse rises above the sea as the Antarctic High Plateau around 3000 meters. This piece brings the continent into a virtual world and poses the question : What is an avatar?

The word avatar is not a new word
--noun
1. Hindu Mythology. the descent of a deity to the earth in an incarnate form or some manifest shape; the incarnation of a god.
2. an embodiment or personification, as of a principle, attitude, or view of life.
3. Computers. a graphical image that represents a person, as on the Internet.

This piece is a personification of a continent, and a fragment of its current (real time ) existence is projected into virtual in the same way that we project a fragment of ourselves into SL and call it our avatar .

It speaks as a symphony of music that is generated by the wind direction from location across its body. Its form is described by the height and position of its parts. Its skin ( the thin layer of air just above the ice) coloured by its temperature.

As this is real time the composition will change from hour to hour, day to day as the conditions at each of the 19 locations on the continent change giving a song of Antarctica.

While the discs are visible as well as touching the disc there is also a colour scale that will tell you the temperature at each site at a glance.

This piece has two phases

Phase One

The first incarnation personifies the continent ice cover as a human figure.

It stands then breaks into its component parts. Each part is a real location on Antarctica, the site of an weather station that is streaming real time data on the conditions.

Phase Two

The second incarnation transforms into separate discs and takes the last 20 readings from each of the 19 weather stations (about the last 5 hours with the last being current).

Each disc represents an automated weather station and contains a set of individual notes. The direction of the wind at that location determines which note from each set is played at each location. NB there are no sound loops rather notes are generated one at a time depending on the wind direction.

The direction of the wind is also given by the direction of the texture animation and the particle stream.

The speed of the wind is given by the speed of the texture animation and the density of the particle stream.

The temperature is signified by colour - red is the hottest and bright blue the coldest. If it goes over 0 degrees it will begin to drip.

The relative height of the discs conform to the height of the weather station.


Technical aspects and Acknowledgements

I take the data from the web, pipe it though my hosted web site and transform it into music and colour.

It uses several transformations that are facilitated via scripts that modify the primitive parameters of each unlinked prim in the piece.

For the height of the station I have used the barometric pressure in the same way it is used by an aeroplanes altimeter. Any difference due to temperature or local air pressure changes is negligible compared to the variation caused by altitude.

The data is provided by the University of Wisconsin Madison through its AWS site and I gratefully acknowledge their permission to use it.

I pull the information from that site and then pre-processed on my hosted site ( I learnt php for this project)

Each element in the piece then request the last 20 readings ( about the last 5 hours ). I use the temperature, wind speed, wind direction and barometric pressure.

All scripts (off world and inworld), sculpts and textures are my own.

The music come from sets of notes in each element. I utilise 4 instruments to create the symphony.

Ghost Blow notes created by Jovica - www.freesound.org
flute - by Lorin Tone
Chord set by Lorin Tone.
Violin notes London Philharmonic

---

The avatar revolution: Here come the new humans - 02 June 2010 - New Scientist

 

The avatar revolution: Here come the new humans - 02 June 2010 - New Scientist.

HMS Center - now a whole sim!

Human Mosaic Systems has moved to its new home - we now have a full sim: the HMS Center.

SLurl : HMS Center SLurl

We now have the space to offer conference rooms with collaboration tools, training/workshop facilities,  streaming video and a theater for presentations, as well as a variety of socialization acitivities (great for building relationships among collaborators, of just to hang out with friends.) The latter includes a lounge with a working pool table, chess, Othello, Mah Jong, kiteboarding, Thai Chi, and horseback riding, to name a few.

There is also an Orientation Platform providing information for new avatars which includes a flight course and a labyrinth great not only for meditation, but for practicing walking skills, too.

We also host charity events here in the main Training Center which has group and individual dance balls.

So, come on by and take the balloon tour to get an overivew of the island, then have fun exploring the sim and what we offer.

Main landing point on the Sim

Dancing in the Training Center

Orientation Platform

Sunset from one of the upper tower rooms

chatting in one of the Tower Rooms

Boat rides

Conference Room

Horseback Riding

Lounge and Game Room

  Interactive Sculptural Art

  Kite Boarding

  My different looks... :)

HMS Center is now in Second Life

Taking advantage of the power of a mixed reality environment and the extension of ourselves found in Second Life, Human Mosaic Systems has now opened it's training and presentations facility there, the HMS Center !   

I look forward to seeing you there!

SLurl: HMS Center in Second Life

     Outside of the HMS Center

Inside the HMS Center