US-Nexus, the U.S. National Guard's virtual world

One of the major differences between US-Nexus and civilian counterparts is Nexus’ emphasis on utility to professionals. “This is about doing business,” the colonel shares. Effort has not been expended on making decorative features. Instead, Nexus offers a legitimate forum for networking and training. Avatar options aim to make virtual representations as close to real people as possible, down to military uniform choices, and visitors use their real names and positions, which are displayed above the avatars’ heads. “Nexus might have 500 Bob Johnsons in there,” Col. Pickell states.

Another feature that differentiates US-Nexus from civilian counterparts is instancing. In some virtual worlds, only a limited number of avatars can be supported in any location before the system is overwhelmed. Nexus can support more than 5,000 people in an auditorium for training by replicating the location multiple times. The speaker is visible and audible to everyone, and each visitor sees “window dressing” that makes the auditorium appear full. When attendees have a question, they click on a button to draw attention. Then, their questions may or may not be chosen. “The trick is to let the real world be your guide,” Col. Pickell explains. For the massive amount of users supported, which could reach levels of hundreds of thousands simultaneously, the colonel says nothing similar to Nexus exists.

“We’re government,” Col. Pickell says. “We don’t care what it looks like. We just need a building to work in.”