Enter Steve, who, acting as a virtual teacher can take the form of a human figure or a hand on a computer screen, guiding students through a Navy training program. Students wear virtual reality headsets and use a mouse to interact with Steve. They can ask him questions. Or, they can prompt him to demonstrate procedures for running the virtual ship's engine room, from changing the oil to checking alarm lights and testing the ship's temperature monitor. The same principles of agents and artificial intelligence are put to deadlier purposes in a virtual battlefield demonstration.
Blue helicopters hover in battle formation behind a hill, out of sight of a column of tanks.
They know what their mission is and how to accomplish it. There is nothing new, of course, about virtual war games. The university's research, Rosenbloom says, shows potential for systems that can learn from their own behavior, solve problems and plan for the future. And, ultimately, help humans learn from computers. Inc. All Rights Reserved.