Virtual Reality Training Helps First Responders

Explaining how VR and AR differ, Koutitas says: “In AR you see a virtual environment that is overlaid in the form of a hologram on the physical environment or space. This provides the advantage of improving the physical memory during the training.

“Putting a VR headset over your eyes will leave you blind to the current world but will expand your senses,” Koutitas says. He explains that augmented reality takes the current reality and enhances it — essentially augments it — with a holographic world. “My role is to learn about the needs for training andbuild an AR training platform application to help the first responders in their mission, which is to save lives.”

Where traditional training can take weeks, AR training can be completed in a few days. The cost of training one class of 80 cadets on the AmBus in the traditional way is more than $50,000 and could take weeks. VR/AR training can be completed in four days for much less money. It is also possible this kind of training can be used in other areas such as hazardous materials, hospital emergency rooms, and fire rescues.

The plummeting cost of the VR equipment has also aided the success. Smith points out that a few years ago, a headset could cost $30,000. Today, an improved model sells for less than $700. He estimates that in a few years such a headset could be the size of a pair of glasses.

The success of the first tests has been very encouraging. “Not only was our training more effective in reducing the amount of time it took, but they didn’t have as many errors as the traditional group,” Smith says.

Texas State students were also part of the project. “They did everything,” he says. “Design, develop, collaborate. It was really cool to watch them. They got the most hands-on experience they’ve ever had developing a project.”

With AR, the designers have re-created the interior of the AmBus, down to the exact number of steps an EMT would take to find supplies within the bus. VR students included lead developer and lab coordinator Clayton Stamper, James Bellian, Dante Cash, and Elijah Gaytan. The AR students included Shivesh Jadon, Chaitanya Vyas, and Shashwat Vyas.

“I joined the group because it follows two of my research paths,” says Lawrence, associate professor of communication design. “One is interdisciplinary collaboration — as designers, we are working with developers, business people, and engineers — the other is the user experience. That’s studying how people interact with software.”

Recent Texas State graduates Jose M. Banuelos and Kayla Roebuck taught themselves 3D modeling over one summer to be part of Lawrence’s communication design team. Sophomore Chloe Kjosa joined their team because of a love of drawing and video games. Lorena Martinez (B.F.A. ’18) helped recruit students to work on the AmBus project, gathered data, and worked on the first prototype.

In November, key members of the ATCEMS experienced VR training at the Austin Fire Academy. After putting on the headset, Rodriguez saw the interior of the AmBus as he walked the length of a hallway. He opened and closed the fingers on one hand to open and close drawers on the AmBus. Koutitas then instructed the chief to locate various medical supplies. As he moved about,

the chief was asked to describe what he was seeing: “I am looking at the bus, I see A/C controls and oxygen masks,” he says.

The people behind the Just-in-Time VR Training are taking their project on the road — including Smart Cities/Innovator’s conferences in Kansas City and Las Vegas, emergency healthcare conferences in Texas, and a technologies conference in Greece.

“We are proof that this kind of interdisciplinary collaboration works — electrical and computer engineering, social work, and design,” Koutitas says. “We collaborate on the research and the product that has an impact on people’s lives.”  ✪