Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) show incredible promise, much more than just making some awesome video games.
They have a set of different but overlapping benefits. Basically, they both let you create virtual worlds — in whole, in part, or laid over reality. And this means you can create lifelike experiences, where you can simulate any situation you can imagine (and code for).
This technology is especially useful when it comes to training for hazardous situations, like first responders, police officers, and disaster relief workers need to do. There are quite a few initiatives to bring the power of AR and VR to bear here, including our $50,000 NIST Public Safety Test Environment Challenge. If you’ve got some ideas to make first responders safer and more effective, they want to hear them!
Let’s take a look at some of those other projects, which are using VR, AR, or a combination of both to help train and manage emergency personnel. Some of these are used strictly for training, while others can provide assistance in the field. Maybe you’ll get some ideas about how to help with the NIST challenge?
AR for Safer Mercedes-Benz Vehicle Rescues
Image credit: TechCrunch
Last year, Mercedes-Benz introduced a pretty incredible new safety feature. Since 2013, they’ve been putting QR codes in Mercedes, Smart, and Fuso vehicles which, in the event of an accident, can be scanned with the Rescue Assist app. This provides first responders with important information about the vehicle they can use to better help any passengers trapped inside.
But now Mercedes-Benz has taken it up a notch, with an update that brings 3D imagery and augmented reality into the picture. Hold up a smartphone or tablet in front of the car and you’ll see color-coded components, highlighting important areas like fuel lines, batteries, and electronics.
You don’t want to cut through those when you’re cutting open a car, potentially harming the occupants, and this virtual guide can help you steer clear. In addition to this function, which uses the car’s blueprints, the Rescue Assist app also provides important safety information relevant to the vehicle being scanned.
Here’s a video of Rescue Assist in action, but keep in mind that this is before the AR update was introduced so it’s not quite as impressive here.
VR for Pathogen and Hazardous Waste Removal
When you make a mess, someone has to clean it up. And if that waste is harmful in some way, like a chemical spill or bodily fluids, you have to call in the experts.
How do you train for a job like that? You wouldn’t want have to use the actual waste.
VR is obviously the answer (or a good one, at least). The National Crime Scene Cleanup Association announced in December of last year that they’ll be developing a VR training program to teach first responders how to deal with hazardous materials.
The training course — named Safe Training VR, or STVR — will cover the equipment needed and standard operating procedures involved in cleanups. It will include pretty much everything first responders need to respond to: from crime scenes and asbestos to dangerous pathogens like Ebola.
STVR should eventually be available to first responders of all kinds, anyone who might benefit from it. Professionals in the many fields involved will be employed to ensure accuracy, making the experiences as realistic as possible.
James Michel, National Crime Scene Cleanup Association President and OSHA 501C Outreach Trainer, thinks that the tech will prepare first responders for dangerous situations without ever putting them in harms way.
“STVR encompasses many courses and situations that I have learned over the years, as well as a plethora of scenarios I never thought I’d encounter,” he said. “We finally have developed a way to minimize risk while teaching real world applications.”
AR Field Training for First Responders
Image credit: McGill University
An interesting project that shows a lot of promise is an initiative at McGill University called Augmented Reality Tools for Improved Training of First Responders. This system is being designed to improve communication between first responders and their coordinators during training scenarios.
First responders in the field would wear Google Glass, which provides a heads-up display containing information related to their mission. Paths can be visualized easily, and virtual beacons can be placed on important landmarks, like points of ingress or egress, injured victims, or hazardous areas.
Coordinators can provide visual real-time guidance, observing everything happening from multiple perspectives. They can switch between first-person views, seeing the scene through Google Glass on an individual responder, or a birds-eye view of a map of all the responders. Advice can be given and situations can be pointed out on the heads-up display, or new challenges can be introduced on the fly.
This project won the US Ignite 2014 Award for Best App in Education, so be sure to look out for this one. Check it out in action here:
Virtual reality and augmented reality are quietly making their way into a variety of industries. Somewhat surprisingly, a lot of these applications seem to be related to disaster relief and first responders. There are many more in action now or in the planning stages, but the three cases above provide a clear picture of how useful this technology will be.
We’re just getting started with VR and AR, and that’s why HeroX is hosting the $50,000 NIST Virtual Public Safety Test Environment Challenge. If the projects above got you excited about the possibilities for these revolutionary virtual environments we can create, tune in to this challenge to learn more about the state-of-the-art in VR and AR.
Are you an innovator ready to make a difference? Visit the challenge page to learn more and get registered!
