Simulation

The English verb ''simulate'' represents the action of imitating or pretending. The noun forms is "simulation." It is usually&sbquo however&sbquo a model not of a system that exists in reality&sbquo but of anon-existing or intangible system and allows participants to experience it under the assumption that it exists. That is&sbquo "simulation" means "modeling a system for virtual experience" and "experimentation using that model." In the modeling process precision is required in experimentation precisely because it is virtual. After the real phenomenon in detail&sbquo and then ascertaining the factors and relationship between the factors considered to be important for the given purpose&sbquo and the patterns or laws that rule or control the system. Factors with weak relationships may be discarded. When the validity of the model becomes clear&sbquo the creators can be confident that the virtual experience will be exceedingly close to the real one. When objectivity is a concern in discarding and selecting those factors&sbquo the reliability of the model builders subjectivity becomes vital. This leads to criteria for judging and assessing how convincing the model or experiment is as a system for virtual experience. Simulations using the computer have advanced recently. It is said in the modeling of phenomenon&sbquo progress has allowed model experiments for virtual experiences to be programmed into three general types: event oriented&sbquo process oriented and activity oriented. This computer-assisted device is called a simulator and is gaining recognition as an increasingly reliable method to achieve artificial realness or virtual reality. There is also a rising demand in design to develop the use of computers and attendant procedures for simulating the result of a given design.

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