US Secret Service Virtualizes Tiny Town

An anonymous reader writes "For the past 40 years, a miniature model environment called 'Tiny Town' has been one of the methods used to teach Secret Service agents and officers how to prepare a site security plan. The model includes different sites — an airport, outdoor stadium, urban rally site and a hotel interior — and uses scaled models of buildings, cars and security assets. With help from the Department of Homeland Security's Science & Technology Directorate, the Secret Service is giving training scenarios a high-tech edge: moving from static tabletop models to virtual kiosks with gaming technology and 3D modeling."

Re:Fixing what ain't broke and learning styles

[gstoddart]

The old system wasn't broken why update it?

Ummm ... to improve on it?

The Secret Serviceâ(TM)s James J. Rowley Training Center near Washington, D.C., sought to take these scenarios beyond a static environment to encompass the dynamic threat spectrum that exists today, while taking full advantage of the latest computer software technology.

So, do more and do it better.

It also seems that this would change the learning styles for the agents.

Yeah, from TFA ...

Both third- and first-person viewing perspectives for overhead site evaluation and for a virtual âoewalk-throughâ of the site, reflecting how it would be performed in the field.

You can't do a walk-through in a table-top model. This is more like the real thing. Seriously, The Fine Article actually explains this stuff. They get a lot of new capability they don't have now.

They wouldn't have sought this out if they didn't think it would be to their benefit. Hell, I suspect if they built this right, they could input real locations and do some of their preliminary work on the computer, so they start out with more information.

The military has real ones

[Animats]

The US military has had practice towns for years. They use the term "MOUT" (Military Operations in Urban Terrain) sites. There's even a VRML file [sri.com] for the one at Fort Benning. There's a bigger one at Fort Irwin, and most major infantry bases have at least a modest mockup town.

The FBI has an elaborate one at Quantico, VA. The Secret Service, though, doesn't seem to have one at their training center. They do, though, have a really big skid pad, for driving practice.

It's not clear from the article whether "Tiny Town" is a planning aid or a training aid. That is, do they match real-world areas where they plan to operate, or just use it for training exercises?