VR Simulations in Emergency

It is overly complicated to organize training on the ground whenever hazard situations are envisaged. The first problem is having access to tools, appliances and instruments the second one is the site itself: normally we are talking about operational sites (an airport, a power plant, an oil rig) where overlapping a training session to normal operations can be impossible or extremely complicated.

Costs both for personnel and for the logistics are not negligible. UTOPIA latest generations VR and laser scanning offer a combination bringing the simulation to a today incomparable level, solving many of the problematics connected to reality, where it is possible recreate situations and instruments otherwise hardly available.

So far UTOPIA system for simulation has been utilized by fire brigade squads.

Gestione emergenze con VR e AR

Realism

Readiness

Safety

Training in Airports

With scanning tools UTOPIA scanned an airport area suitable for the training. As a second step we have utilized the scanned data to reproduce a VR environment matching the real one where we did simulate an emergency. The fire brigade participating to the simulation had to intervene with all the prescribed procedures to solve the situation.

The accident was simulation a helicopter transporting a rx appliance. At take-off, a human mistake caused an accident between the helicopter and a fuel tank; this created a fire and a subsequent radioactive leak contaminating the area.

In this instance wearing the VR optics the team intervene on the scene with radioactivity measurement tools, the team isolate the area and create a decontamination block for a first-hand treatment of possible victims.

The simulation occurred in a matching replication of the real area
The intervention of the whole team can be viewed and reviewed by any viewpoint
Maximum emotional impact in every team’s member
No real risk for people or objects
Indepth analysis and evaluation of the simulation
No infrastructure or personnel costs associated with the simulation

Effectiveness and applications

With UTOPIA the simulation and the training can be run at the same time for wide teams with different roles and different places. In fact, wearing the VR optics is for the user as natural as being in the real place (like in the case of the airport) or wherever the VR scenario replicates. The empathy and the realism thanks to the high level of definition of UTOPIA apps is the highest. The user is thus faced with the same difficulties and emotional reactions that he face in reality, it is also possible to record data pertaining to the physical reactions of every team’s member and register improper execution of tasks.

VR and AR experience can give a real-time feedback, including the test evaluation through an automatically assigned score (like a videogame) and/or by recording and rewatching the performance from any angle, even from the subject’s point of view: in this way we can introduce a very in-depth evaluation system which is nearly impossible to replicate in real life.

Having acquired all the details of the real environment it is also possible to maintain all correlated problems (visibility, movements) giving to the simulation in VR a big plus for whenever the crisis situation should materialize in reality. Furthermore in VR you learn to use complex instruments, and this learning happens safely, thus reducing risks correlated with low experience and potential physical accidents during the training.

large scale and diversified accidents
Uncontrolled power leaks
Emergency management in high risk situations
Nuclear and radioactive energy
Plan and development of civil protection protocols
Bacteriological, chemical and radioactive materials (CBRN)

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