Virtual reality (VR) research has gone through rapid advances and the technology has established itself as a valuable training tool in many domains. While research in the field of emergency response, and more specifically in the field of firefighting, is still catching up, the future potential of VR technology for training is promising. This paper uses the SWOT framework to analyse the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats immersive VR technology faces in the field of firefighter training. While using VR for training is cost-effective, safe to use and provides the ability to prepare trainees with a large variety of high fidelity training environments, the lack in specialization of the applications for the fire-service sector and issues with technology acceptance and limitations need to be addressed. Looking to current research, there are promising findings that might be directly transferable, creating affective, and multi-sensory experiences for more effective mental and physical training of firefighters in the future. More research is needed to establish methods of skills transfer from VR to real life scenarios and to evaluate the potential risk of frequent training in engaging and physiologically stimulating virtual environments.
Immersive virtual reality (VR) shows a lot of potential for the training of professionals in the emergency response domain. Firefighters occupy a unique position among emergency personnel as the threats they encounter are mainly environmental. Immersive VR therefore represents a great opportunity to be utilized for firefighter training. This systematic review summarizes the existing literature of VR firefighting training that has a specific focus on human factors and learning outcomes, as opposed to literature that solely covers the system, or simulation, with little consideration given to its user. An extensive literature search followed by rigorous filtering of publications with narrowly defined criteria was performed to aggregate results from methodologically sound user studies. The included studies provide evidence that suggests the suitability of VR firefighter training, especially in search and rescue and commander training scenarios. Although the overall number of publications is small, the viability of VR as an ecologically valid analog to real-life training is promising. In the future, more work is needed to establish clear evidence and guidelines to optimize the effectiveness of VR training and to increase reliable data through appropriate research endeavors.
Everyday field work of a police officer requires the perception, filtering and understanding of large amounts of information in highly dynamic situations. This presents opportunities for ICT to alleviate strain on officers by providing adequate information provisioning. We evaluate the usage of a mobile location-based hotspot policing system, comprised of a smartphone, smartwatch and a web-application, during real field work with officers in high and low hotspot density locations. We use a repeated measures design to compare possible effects with our baseline measure, i.e. field work without using the system. Usability, task-load and situational awareness (SA), as well as possible mediators, are evaluated to gain insight into the differences between modes of transportation and the overall viability of the system itself. No significant difference was found between the two locations. Officers using the system scored high on usability measures and interview feedback was largely positive. Measures on SA remained stable throughout baseline and experimental shifts. Task-load was significantly higher with the use of the system. The contradiction in these findings can be explained by showing the differences in the nature of field work with and without the system.
Location-based systems (LBS) can be of benefit to obtain information when and where it is needed. What is not captured with LBS are points of interest (dynamic hotspots) that are not fixed in one location, such as people. Furthermore, using 2D interface elements makes it difficult to communicate precise spatial information to users. The current study aims to assess the viability of dynamic hotspots and augmented content in a mobile hotspot policing application. Mock cases were constructed to mimic real field policing work. The system, comprised of a smartphone and smartwatch, gave static and dynamic hotspot information, which was enriched with the use of augmented elements viewed through the smartphone-camera. Interviews, observations and usability measures were used to gain insight for augmented reality (AR) design considerations in the domain of field-policing. The detection of dynamic hotspots was seen as desirable. While static and dynamic hotspot information was seen as valuable, AR information, as it was utilized in the current study, has too many drawbacks to be used in the field. Alternative modalities, insights into possible future iterations and technical limitations of AR for the emergency response domain are discussed.
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