In a surprising move, the US Air Force will now be providing all new military recruits with Second Life virtual avatars that will travel with them through their entire military career.
“Everyone who comes into the Air Force will be given an avatar, and that avatar travels with them, grows with them, changes appearance with them,” Larry Clemons, of the Air Education and Training Command, told the magazine. “It will provide them a history of where they’ve been and a notion of where they’re going.”
The Air Force has been running an inworld program called “MyBase” since 2008, but the hope is to provide clubs, chapels, classes, review materials, and even pre-deployment exercises in-world.
“If this is truly effective, it will become a way of life,” Clemons said. “It will be the way the Air Force does business.” Not only this, but with recruitment levels declining, the Force sees MyBase as a way to reach a younger demographic, as noted in the 2008 proposal for MyBase to become a legitimate part of the Air Force.
via Dusan Writer’s Metaverse » Air Force to Give Recruits a Virtual World Avatars.
Not really sure how the Air Force is going to “give” new airmen an avatar … you can make one for free in Second Life. Maybe they will give the airmen appropriate uniforms etc for their online persona as they progress through the ranks, since authentic uniforms currently cost in-world money to buy from a content developer who took the time to create them.
Question: How do you ensure a virtual Airman has an appropriate hairstyle, and looks appropriate while representing the Air Force?
I’m actually quite upset! I proposed this in 2006 for training squadrons which require planning conferences, and was simply laughed at!
This is my idea, but no one would take me seriously. There goes my incentive.
What a stupid idea… even looking at it from an OPSEC point of view. How ridiculous!