GlossaryGuide

Etym. live 1540s, “having life,” later (1610s) “burning, glowing,” a shortening of alive. Meaning “in-person” (of performance) is first attested 1934.

Etym. virtual The meaning “being something in essence or effect, though not actually or in fact” is from mid-15c., probably via sense of “capable of producing a certain effect” (early 15c.). Computer sense of “not physically existing but made to appear by software” is attested from 1959.

Etym. constructed early 15c., “derived by interpretation,” from Middle French constructif or from Medieval Latin constructivus, from Latin construct-, past participle stem of construere “to heap up.”

Definition

• A broadly used taxonomy describing a mixture of simulation modalities; a live simulation involves real people operating real systems; a virtual simulation is where a real person operates simulated systems; and a constructed simulation does not involve real people or real systems, but instead consists of computer programs that create an environment. (Sokolowski & Banks, 2011).