Virtual simulations are being used by real persons to train and practice their driving, flying or general vehicle controlling skills in replicated simulation systems. In order to achieve this, the characteristics and properties of real vehicles as well as the environment they are operating in are reconstructed. The overall purpose of this reconstructed environment is to reproduce real situations in an inexpensive and safe manner. As training in real vehicles is always associated with effort, risks and costs, simulation systems offer the possibility to train and practice safely in real-world environments. This synthetic representation of the environment is usually generated by a computer sys- tem. The simulation users move the vehicle or aircraft virtually through a synthetic 3d environment. The visualization of this virtual environment must be as realistic as possible in order to maximize the training effect. Especially in a military context it is not sufficient to visualize this virtual environment in a static way. Besides the pure handling of the vehicle, the influence on and the change of the synthetic environment need to be part of the training scenarios within the simulation. Although ethically questionable, it is from a military viewpoint necessary to understand the impact of weapons and how they determine a change to the building visualization in the simulation. As the handling of building damage in virtual simulation systems is indis- pensable, the ability to calculate and visualize the damage of buildings during simulations is a key requirement. This thesis presents a new approach for handling building damage in virtual, distributed simulations. It is shown that realistic damage visualizations, for example through weapon effects or explosions, can both be calculated at runtime and at the same time visualized realistically. In contrast to the current state of the art, the optical damages are not static. Consequently, a virtually damaged building is no longer a visualisation of a preprocessed or a priori known state, but is based on runtime parameters. This will in general allow a more realistic handling of building damages during simulation. The new approach is implemented in a service-oriented manner as a 3d impact service for distributed simulations. Through the consistent use of spatial data standards, interopera- bility and reusability are ensured. Finally, the general applicability is verified by using a commercial and professional simulation software product (X-Plane).    «

Virtual simulations are being used by real persons to train and practice their driving, flying or general vehicle controlling skills in replicated simulation systems. In order to achieve this, the characteristics and properties of real vehicles as well as the environment they are operating in are reconstructed. The overall purpose of this reconstructed environment is to reproduce real situations in an inexpensive and safe manner. As training in real vehicles is always associated with effort, ris...    »