Future Developments

The OpenSkies Training System is designed to facilitate future enhancements. Some of the planned enhancements include:

• Interactive Speech
  - Interactive speech/chat will allow you to communicate with your teammates in real-time over the internet. You'll be able to call out enemy vehicles and planes as you see them, or give orders to your wingman and squadron, adding to a truly immerse simulation experience.
• VRML Parser
  - The Parser will allow you to load your favorite VRML models. You could create models in any VRML builder with their associated behaviors and play with them in the OpenSkies environment. The VRML parser is based on Satoshi Konno's CyberVRML 97 parser and is being integrated into the OpenSkies engine.
• HMD and Shutter Glasses Support
  - Support for these, when combined with a newer monitor, will provide a 3-D simulation.
• Multiple Monitor Support
  - Multiple monitor support will allow you to display different views outside of the object on separate monitors. This will allow for a wide screen view using only a single PC. Multiple views are currently supported with multiple machines using the HLA listen capability.
• Panel Editor
  - You can develop panels yourself now, but it'll be easier with our forthcoming Panel Editor. The editor will function inside of OpenSkies (it is actually a panel itself), and will assist in the creation of new instruments, including texture coordinate determination, instrument placement, and indicator movement testing.
• Space Environment
  - OpenSkies isn't just limited to terrestrial environments, but also capable of simulating space environments. Future enhancements will allow a vehicle to "fly" around the solar system and watch the celestial interactions. The primary affect this will have on OpenSkies is the implementation of a more robust coordinate system that doesn't assume an Earth origin.
• Object Placement Tool
  - In a simulation environment where different objects represented in their own coordinate system are placed hierarchically, it is a tedious task to place objects accurately with respect to each other. An intuitive and interactive tool is planned to place various objects in the scene accurately.
• Terrain Editor
  - We're planning several new features for our terrain editor, including a windows type of interface that allows greater data handling flexibility, the ability to add new features on the terrain (roads, power lines, waterways, etc), the ability to create new terrain for other areas (i.e. different planets, other countries) and a graphical feature editor that will allow the deformation of terrain.