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Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams, Wikinomics, Penguin Group, New York, 2006.
Order Code RS22857
April 9, 2008
Avatars, Virtual Reality Technology, and the
U.S. Military: Emerging Policy Issues
Clay Wilson
Specialist in Technology and National Security
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
Summary
This report describes virtual reality technology, which uses three-dimensional user-
generated content, and its use by the U.S. military and intelligence community for
training and other purposes. Both the military and private sector use this new
technology, but terrorist groups may also be using it to train more realistically for future
attacks, while still avoiding detection on the Internet. The issues for Congress to
consider may include the cost-benefit implications of this technology, whether sufficient
resources are available for the communications infrastructure needed to support
expanded use of virtual reality technology, and whether there might be national security
considerations if the United States falls behind other nations in developing or adopting
this new technology. This report will be updated as events warrant.
Virtual Reality and Web 2.0
Virtual Reality (VR) technology enables Web content that is interactive and user-
generated. However, VR technology goes beyond traditional Web pages, and allows users
to operate in three-dimensions of space, simulated within the computer. VR is part of
what is known as Web 2.0, a second-generation method of using Web technology to
create communities, or social networks, where instead of passively viewing content, each
user can dynamically create and modify and share Web content. Thus Web 2.0
technology allows users to collaborate and create self-organizing communities that can
(1) increase the value and power of peer relationships and (2) simultaneously disrupt
traditional real-world methods for hierarchical control over information flows.
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Early examples of 2-D Web 2.0 social network communities include YouTube,
LinkedIn, and Wikipedia. Similar Web 2.0 tools were developed and used by junior
military officers during Operation Iraqi Freedom to create notes about observed enemy
movements and then quickly share this information among multiple unit commanders.
