1. Simulation Networking Standards and the Web Don McGregor Research Associate MOVES Institute mcgredo@nps.edu

2. The Web & Sim Networking There are many existing simulations that use DIS or RPR-FOM in desktop applications Web applications are cheaper than desktop applications How can we manage a transition from compiled desktop simulations to web application simulations? 2

3. Desktop Simulations 3 Desktop Sim Applications Compiled applications deployed on desktops exchange state information using standard protocols such as DIS or HLA RPR-FOM to achieve a shared virtual world DIS, HLA, etc

4. Web Based Simulations 4 Recent standards (Websockets, WebRTC WebGL, fast Javascript) allow networked virtual environments to be done entirely within the web page. The format to use for state updates is still uncertain

5. Web Based Simulations 5 DESKTOP High Performance Agreed-upon standards for Networking (DIS, HLA RPR-FOM, TENA) Long upgrade cycles for apps Relatively stable platform on which to build WEB Good enough for some applications Cheaper Mobile-friendly Fast app upgrade cycles Fast-changing underlying platform (Javascript game engines change fast) Few standards for networking Cloud on server side Integration with web

6. Network Sim Standards What format to use for exchanging state information? Can come up with new standard, perhaps with JSON syntax –It’s expensive to come up with a new standard, and it makes it difficult to work with existing sim applications HLA has no wire standard, developing a Javascript API for HLA is expensive, and interoperability questions even if we did So, use DIS binary format –Wire format specified, well-known semantics –HLA RPR-FOM gateways easily –Works with most existing applications –Javascript handles binary data well enough 6

7. Javascript DIS 7 Web Server DIS, or RPR-FOM Gateway’d to DIS Binary format DIS Sent over websocket/ WebRTC to Javascript In the browser Existing Sim App

8. Javascript DIS Implementation at http://github.com/open-dishttp://github.com/open-dis Google Maps demo Works with Web3D, ThreeJS, etc Probable compatibility with Unity as it moves to the web 8