Augmented Reality Farm MAPPER Development: Lessons Learned from an App Designed to Improve Rural Emergency Response

Abstract

Fire departments have right-of-entry to most commercial industrial sites and preemptively map them to identify the onsite resources and hazards they need to promptly and safely respond to an emergency event. This is not the case for private farms. Emergency responders are blind to resources and hazards prior to arrival and must spend critical minutes locating them during an emergency response at a farm location. The original 2013 Farm Mapping to Assist, Protect and Prepare Emergency Responders (Farm MAPPER) project was undertaken to develop a method to give emergency responders an up-to-date view of on-farm hazard information to safely and efficiently conduct emergency response activities on private agricultural operations. In 2017, an augmented reality version of Farm MAPPER was developed to combine the technological advantages of geographic information system-based data points with a heads-up display and graphical overlay of superimposed hazard imagery and informative icons. The development and testing of this iOS- and Android-ready prototype uncovered lessons learned applicable to other mobile-based apps targeting farmers, ranchers, and rural populations faced with limited or inconsistent mobile internet connectivity.

An Argument Against Cross-Platform Development: Lessons From an Augmented Reality App Prototype for Rural Emergency Responders

“…Despite the rapid advancement and adoption of MAR, little is known about the effectiveness of these technologies in real-world rural emergency response [6]. Researchers in related disciplines, such as medical education, have also struggled to evaluate the technology’s place and effectiveness [31-36].…”

“…This offers the possibility for on-scene commanders to have a heads-up display. This report, which builds upon a previously published manuscript [6], may be of more interest to researchers and practitioners working with MAR in the medical informatics field and, particularly, when considering issues related to the choice of approach—cross-platform development versus targeting single platforms. The specifics of the original Farm MAPPER app and its applicability to agricultural injury prevention interventions are the topic of another paper [6].…”

Geospatial Information Visualization and Extended Reality Displays

“…Thus, understanding the context in which information and visualizations of information are going to be used (Griffin et al 2017)-what data, by whom, for what purpose, on what device-is fundamental to designing appropriate and effective visualizations. For example, ubiquitous sensor networks and continuous imaging of the Earth's surface allow for us to collect real-time or near real-time spatial information on fires and resources available to fight fires, and firefighters would benefit from improved situation awareness (Weichelt et al 2018). However, which information should we show them, and how should it be shown?…”

An Argument Against Cross-Platform Development: Lessons From an Augmented Reality App Prototype for Rural Emergency Responders (Preprint)

“…Despite the rapid advancement and adoption of MAR, little is known about the effectiveness of these technologies in real-world rural emergency response [6]. Researchers in related disciplines, such as medical education, have also struggled to evaluate the technology's place and effectiveness [31][32][33][34][35][36].…”