NATO Wants to Go Virtual

Allied Command Transformation, which does the change thing for NATO, has a request for proposals on the street to build a virtual headquarters to run operations in Asia.

ACT, based in Norfolk, Va., and the only NATO command outside Europe, also wants a virtual replication of its stateside headquarters based on the NATO HQ in Afghanistan.

The compounds should be able to hook into conference rooms in various European capitals and provide such fidelity that "the virtual item should look similar to the actual object. The dimensions should be the same and fit within the surroundings."

ACT does not intend to acquire old virtual worlds and said that the only sites it will consider are those developed on Second Life, created by Linden Labs; the Online Interactive Virtual Environment from Forterra Systems; or the Nexus system, developed by Engineering & Computer Simulations.

I suggest ACT include a virtual Painted Lady Restaurant and Tea Room in its online HQ in case anyone gets hungry.