Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology are creating virtual reality simulations for first responders, training firefighters and law enforcement in hopes to better prepare trainees for high-tense emergencies situations, according to Eurek Alert.
The goal is to create user interfaces such as visual markers, sounds and voice commands that are more effective and less expensive. They hope these interfaces can be embedded into a firefighter mask or even smart glasses worn by med techs.
The visual display feature will show the temperature or warn firefighters how much oxygen is in their backpack tank. The premise of the design is to provide useful data, without it interfering with intense situational jobs.
“There is currently no method to test and measure user interfaces for first responders,” said Scott Ledgerwood, NIST project leader, according to Eurek Alert. “We want to enable development, testing and rapid prototyping of these interfaces in a safe, controlled and repeatable environment.”
Ledgerwood noted that although there have been advances in training stimulation with virtual reality no one has really dived into the testing and development phase.
“We’re creating this test bed because we don’t believe anyone else has the focus or capabilities to test user interfaces for first responders,” said Ledgerwood.
Testing interfaces will expose first responders to high-risk situations, but offers a safer solution through an innovative venue.
The design uses commercial headsets and controllers, but the researchers are the ones to develop the actual scenario-content. The locations created thus far have been a hotel, a mountain home and an office environment. The user then chooses their location and operates a stimulated fire hose to eliminate the situation.
In the future, the researchers want to develop criteria to further evaluate the simulation and ensure the test bed is proving beneficial to its users. They also plan to develop more virtual scenarios and create a variety of headsets and graphic engines. Eventually, they hope to be able to provide their tools and research to other companies.
“The goal is to make this virtual environment in such a way that anyone who has access to a headset could download our scenarios and use them at their own locations,” Ledgerwood said.
