Virtual World Public Health Preparedness Planning

welcome to virtual world preparedness planning!

The University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health Center for the Advancement of Distance Education (CADE) has created a number of Public Health Preparedness scenarios using virtual world technology. This technology includes "Second Life" and "Open Simulator (OpenSim)". The virtual spaces developed include a variety of urban and rural environments with customized buildings, objects, and scripting tailored to emergency scenarios ranging from pandemic influenza to bio-terrorism and dirty bombs. These environmets have been used in training to local health department staff to conduct a wide variety of virtual operations in support of Planning, Training, and Evaluation and in research.