BCS (before computer simulations) current events were considered about as popular as watching grass grow, aside from discussions and role playing in school. There was no active participation. Games were played mainly outside in a park, with the exception of board games or crossword puzzles inside the house.
Fast forwarding to the present, students are most fortunate to be actively immersed in a fictionalized AV simulation based on a real-life event: the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. Thus was developed the Situation Room Experience (SRE) at the Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush Presidential Libraries that are located, respectively, in Simi Valley CA and at Southern Methodist University in Dallas TX.
SenovvA (Sensory Innovation) of Los Angeles did the design/build. Our integrator interviewees are Curtis Kelly, CTS-D, DMC-D, Executive Producer/Chief Designer, and Coty Shipe, Systems Engineer/Chief Engineer on the project. (Additional SenovvA credits include System Application Programmer Lauren Sheridan, Application Engineer Andy Kulhavy and System Integration Technician Wayne Martinez.) Mira Cohen, Director of Education with the Reagan Presidential Library (www.reaganlibrary.gov), offers the client perspective.