SMARTER STRATEGIES

Border Security Improvements with Gaming Technology

Rebecca Kutzer-Rice | Date: 04-14-11 | Comments

A new high-fidelity simulation tool is helping train border-protection personnel to make better decisions and respond to real-world security problems.

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Border Security Improvements with Gaming Technology
Forget barbed wire fences and miles of unmonitored territory. New border-protection measures are high-tech and comprehensive. Now, a gaming platform is helping border personnel to make better decisions about staffing and infrastructure.

Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) funded the project at Sandia National Laboratories to develop a complex simulation and analysis program for border security personnel. The technology could be used to better protect national borders against illegal crossing and smuggling.

Called The Borders High Level Model (HLM), the program is built off the gaming platform Ground Truth. Created from collaborative efforts from several organizations, the tool also uses Dante, a force-on-force battle simulation program.

The Borders High Level Model is a touch-screen platform built into a table, so users can peer down at the simulated world. (Source: Sandia National Labs)

"There's a lot of debate going on in the government concerning the technology and infrastructure investments that need to be made along the border," explained Jason Reinhardt, the Borders HLM project manager at Sandia. "How much fence do we need? What kind of fence? What is the right mix of border personnel and technology? How can sensors, vehicles and other technical equipment most effectively be used? With Borders HLM, CBP officials can simulate their defensive architectures, accurately measure their performance and start to answer these difficult questions."

In 2007, Sandia researchers created the Ground Truth platform, originally intended to train decision makers and first responders about weapons of mass destruction (WMD) attacks in urban areas. The tool provides a virtual environment in which users can apply various decisions and track the effects.

Next: Adapting the Tool to Similar Projects >>