MARITIME SIMULATION
SIG

MISSION:

The Maritime Simulation Special Interest Group (MARSIG) is the IMAGE Society's newest SIG. The primary goal will be to cultivate a membership composed of individuals from all segments within the maritime simulation community who are interested in participating in our activities and discussions. This will include representatives from the military, commercial and academic worlds. The Group will be dedicated to advancing the science, practice and tradition of marine simulation. Important areas of interest will encompass the core technologies of image generation and displays, database modeling and human factors. Other related fields will include but not be limited to; port and harbor improvement studies, next generation ship's bridge control and display equipment, hydrodynamic modeling, interactive simulation models, high speed craft (HSC) issues, VE technologies in training, traditional versus embedded training, motion systems, networking, ECDIS (Electronic Control & Display Information System) technologies, VTS (Vessel Traffic Systems) and AIS (Automatic Identification Systems). Vessel types will include ships, submersibles, yachts, boats, offshore and ocean bottom structures, hydrofoils, surface effect ships, WIG (Wing In Ground effect vessels), and both surface and submerged autonomous vessels.

Like our flight simulation colleagues, advances and the introduction of new technologies especially in the image generation, display and database modeling fields have dramatically impacted the marine simulation industry. The visual subsystem, more than any other, has a major effect on the overall impression (level of fidelity, training value) of the simulator because vision is the most important feedback mechanism in ship handling. For this reason, high-quality, high-performance state-of-the-art visual generation and display equipment is essential. A new generation of high performance, abundantly detailed, finely textured realistic visual scenes with full scene anti-aliasing are displayable at a fraction of the cost of just a few years ago. Advances in DLP, LCD, D-ILA and LCOS projector technologies especially at higher resolutions have been a major influence. For several years, the transition from expensive custom platforms to PC Image Generators (IG)s has affected many segments of the industry. In ship?s bridge training, where the IG expense is a major cost driver, experienced visual system users are primarily concerned with protecting their investment in databases and application software. The ability to port existing OpenGL applications to PC based systems within a reasonable time and effort is critical. It is also important to continue the development of new applications using the same familiar modeling tools, runtime APIs and operating systems. Concurrently, new software tools and libraries have revolutionized environmental data acquisition and modeling to enable faster, more detailed and more accurate database development. All of this has contributed to the acceptance of previously reluctant individuals to employ marine simulation as a design, research and training tool. Environmental and safety concerns have further enhanced the necessity for increased exposure to marine simulation.

Some long-term objectives of the MARSIG will be:

• Providing the members a useful medium for the interchange of ideas and experience.
• Contributing to enhancements in training and operations in the maritime industry through the application of simulation.
• Developing visual system performance criteria in maritime training and research.