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Raising the bar for fire simulation training with SCDF & HTX
We partnered up with HTX and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) to implement our cutting-edge virtual reality (VR) system capable of recreating and customizing various building-fire scenarios. This partnership promises to enhance training effectiveness and preparedness for emergency responders in Singapore.
Revamping emergency response training
The VR system called REDSUIT aims to revolutionize emergency response training. Through realistic visualizations and interactive elements, it enables users to immerse themselves in virtual environments resembling actual buildings engulfed in fires. The technology allows them to navigate and interact within these scenarios, gaining practical experience and enhancing their decision-making abilities under intense pressure.
Measurably Skilled
To further optimize training outcomes, the VR system includes comprehensive evaluation and analytical capabilities. Trainers can review each trainee’s performance, track their decision-making process, and identify areas for improvement using objective performance metrics. This data-driven approach assists in refining skills, streamlining response strategies, and continuously enhancing overall readiness.
Customizable scenarios
Unlike traditional training simulations, this VR system allows users to customize different building-fire scenarios. By adapting variables such as fire locations, levels of intensity, or structural layouts, trainers can create diverse environments to challenge and train responders effectively. This flexibility ensures a comprehensive training experience that prepares individuals for a wide range of real-world situations.
Realistic fire behavior
One notable feature is the system’s ability to accurately simulate fire behavior. By replicating the movement, growth, and spread of flames, the VR technology provides responders with a realistic understanding of fire dynamics. This level of authenticity facilitates developing effective strategies to extinguish fires safely, prevent further spread, and ensure the safety of both responders and occupants.
Immersion to engage the senses
The immersive experience offered by this VR system adds significant value to training sessions. It engages multiple senses, including sight and sound, to create a highly realistic setting. Responders can navigate through smoke-filled corridors, hear the crackling of flames, and feel the heat generated by the fire. This multi-sensory approach enhances the trainees’ situational awareness and enables them to make swift, accurate decisions.
“We are not trying to replace conventional methods but raise the bar for simulation training”
Dr Saravana Kumar KumarasamyDeputy Director, HTX
Enhanced collaboration
The VR system also incorporates a collaborative aspect, enabling multiple responders to train together in the virtual environment. By promoting teamwork and communication, it fosters coordination among various disciplines, such as firefighters, medics, and incident commanders. This feature helps replicate real-life emergency scenarios and cultivates effective cooperation between different response units.
Profound impact
The collaboration between HTX, SCDF, and RE-liON
has resulted in the development of an advanced VR system designed to enhance training effectiveness for emergency responders. Through customizable building-fire scenarios, realistic fire behavior simulations, immersive experiences, and collaborative training, this technology provides a comprehensive and practical approach to emergency response preparedness.
With its profound impact on decision-making, coordination, and skill development, the VR system promises to equip responders with the necessary tools to face complex fire incidents confidently.
Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) deploys REDSUIT
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) uses our REDSUIT to better prepare their firefighters for real life emergencies. Beforehand they use the editor to create diverse scenarios ranging from emergencies in flats and offices to large scale operations in factories. These scenarios can then be trained using real equipment such as nozzles and explosimeters.
During the exercise the trainer is able to change the scenario with our live editor. Enabeling him to open doors, change the state and trajectory of the fire and even add civilians which need to be rescued. Afterwards the group can review the exercise and for instance see the training from the perspective of individual trainees while important moments are shown on a timeline. These are just some of the features of REDSUIT which make sure first responders are measurably skilled for their critical tasks.
Video credit: CNA
Police in NRW to implement VR training after successful SHOTPROS project
After the successful participation in the SHOTPRO project the police in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) are set to revolutionize their training methods by incorporating virtual reality (VR) technology. The State Office for Police Training, Further Education and Personnel Matters (LAFP) has issued a tender for the development of a VR system that will allow officers to train in diverse and complex scenarios.
Enhance performance in high-risk scenarios
The implementation of VR training in the police force is expected to significantly improve the performance of officers in high-risk scenarios. The immersive experience and realistic simulations will enable officers to make better decisions and enhance their training and debriefing processes. The LAFP plans to create its own scenarios in the future, allowing trainees to simulate various environments and situations tailored to trends in society.
Dynamic and diverse scenarios
This technology will allow officers to train in virtual locations that are not easily accessible in reality, such as schools, shopping centers, and airports. The use of a VR system offers the opportunity to train diverse and complex scenarios that can be changed quickly. Current events can be simulated without much effort. The incorporation of avatars will also enable the involvement of role players, including children, people with disabilities and elderly, who cannot be easily integrated in real training.
Feedback and immersion
The VR training system is expected to be up and running by the end of the year and will initially be used at the LAFP training center in Selm. The system will allow up to six participants, including the trainer, to move simultaneously in a virtual environment. The system will simulate realistic equipment and provide tangible feedback through electrical impulses or vibrations. Additionally LAFP plans to expand the VR system in the future to include “4D effects” such as wind, rain, heat, and smell.
SHOTPROS inspires implementation
The VR training system in NRW is based on the Europe-wide virtual reality project “SHOTPROS.” The project aims to better prepare police officers for high-risk operational situations and has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. The project involves collaboration between renowned European research institutions, international companies, and police authorities from various countries.
Paving the way for German law enforcement
The introduction of VR technology in police training in NRW marks a significant step towards digitization and the adoption of modern technologies for German law enforcement. Successful implementation will hopefully motivate other agencies to pursue this impactful training method.
SHOTPROS at the EU Open Days 2023
What a great weekend in Brussels. We were selected by DG Migration & Home Affairs to present our H2020 SHOTPROS project for Virtual Reality (VR) Police Training, as the highlight next to Europol and FrontEx during the EU Open Days.
Thanks to USECON for the organization, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Campus Vesta and the great support of the Berlin Polizei for the end-user perspective!
A short clip of the event can be found here.
RE-liON x Project Gecko at GPEC 2023
We just wrapped up an interesting day at #GPEC 2023 with Eli Feildboy from Project Gecko. Together, we conducted short lectures discussing the challenges, (lack of) training analytics, virtual reality and complexities of law enforcement together with dozens of LE trainers.
Does that sound good?
If you’re a senior trainer in Defense, Law Enforcement or Fire Fighting: join us to learn more.
Reserve your free spot here in our limited workshop series we’ll be hosting a limited number of times throughout the year.
Enhancing Operational Police Training in High Stress Situations with Virtual Reality: Experiences, Tools and Guidelines
RE-liON wins European Defense Fund contract to enhance C4ISR with Immersive Technologies
We are thrilled to announce that we have been awarded a contract by the European Defense Fund for Project MoSaiC to strengthen our roadmap for command- and operator kits. Our new capabilities will integrate immersive VR & AR technology, live data links, and command- and control (C2) of semi-autonomous UxV’s, enabling us to offer even more advanced solutions to our clients in the national security & defense sectors.
We are proud to partner with the European Defense Fund and our international partners on this important initiative, which represents a significant milestone for our company. Our expertise in immersive technolog, our history in co-development and our commitment to excellence make us the ideal partner for this project, and we look forward to delivering innovative solutions that meet the needs of our clients.
To learn more about Project MoSaiC, visit:
– Project MoSaiC EDF 2021 factsheet
To learn more about our products for Plan & Rehearse, visit:
RE-liON's newest VR fire fighting system on track for delivery
We’re proud to announce that RE-liON has achieved a key milestone for our ASEAN project: we’ve just completed the Critical Design Review for a new VR fire fighting training and assessment system.
Achieving this milestone is important for the customer and for us, to align expectations in the requirements and delivery timeline”, says our Manager of Operations, Niek Oude Essink Nijhuis.
This is the first time RE-liON delivers directly to that specific Government. It’s a milestone in the company’s history: the customer has a well-known reputation and the country is seen as Asia’s technology capital. That’s why it’s an honor and a mark of approval to have this project awarded to RE-liON”.
RE-liON was awarded the contract in March. The next milestone will be the factory acceptance tests at the end of 2022. After delivery, our local partner Starburst, will collaborate with us for the sustainment of the system.
SHOTPROS - Police VR Scenario Tech Demo
Last week during the H2020 Review, the SHOTPROS consortium presented the first results of the VR world used in the second high-stress terrorism scenario. Both scenario and the VR world are being co-developed together in an iterative process with the research partners as well as the end-user stakeholders: the 5 police agencies (LEA’s) involved in the consortium. This ensures a good result.
This VR world is a good example of a multi-purpose environment that allows multiple scenarios ranging from low-stress to high-stress:
- Vehicle search
- Pub fight
- Knife crime
- Explosive Improvised Devices (IED) threats
- Vehicle ramming into a crowd on a public square
- Etc.
What makes a Smartvest Smart?
Let’s get into more detail of what is needed to make this work.
How to Design your Virtual Reality Training System?
- To be immersed into the digital world
- Realism in graphics and sound
- A natural way of interacting with the digital world
- To interact with multiple users in the digital world
- To move freely
- To put on and remove equipment in approximately 5 minutes
- Bio-signal feedback
- A one-size-fits-all
- A hygienic solution
Design decisions become easier if there is:
- no need for physical interaction or
- if the number of users in VR in the same physical room is below 2 to 4.
After going through the design process, we ended up with the Smartvest as shown above for certain type of training: CQB, Small Unit Tactics, etc. In these situations, being able to have physical contact and quickly being able to use many different replica tools in VR is very important.
This one of the reasons behind the Smartvest.
R1: Users need to be immersed into the Digital World
R2: Users want realism in Graphics and Sound
In police de-escalation or military training, users want to be able to spot if a digital character at a distance of 3-10 meters is carrying a pen or a knife in its hands.
Everything in the digital world can be a trigger to decide and act.
The Math(ish) of the balance between Graphical Realism, Computing Power and battery life:
- Add a digital character = less power left for realism and/or smaller digital world and/or…
- Increase realism = less vegetation and/or less objects and/or ….
- Longer playtime on 1 set of batteries = less realism and/or …
R3: Users want a natural way of interacting with the Digital World
The speed of action and type of training: more cognitive or motor skills determine how natural interaction needs to feel with the digital environment. For example:
- To walk around, is it ok to use a small joystick on a VR controller, is it ok to use teleporting in VR or is real walking/running/crawling a requirement?
- Another example is physical interaction: is this necessary? If not, then this eliminates the need for capturing full body motion.
- To use certain tools replicated in the VR environment, is it ok to use a VR controller with buttons and a joystick or is a replica of the physical tool required?
- And if replica tools are needed, how many of these replica tools need to be used in VR at the same time?
Is haptic feedback, the experience of touch through force or vibration, necessary? If so, only on one point or throughout your body? This point is linked to natural movement: if you are using VR controllers or teleporting for locomotion, haptic feedback is a nice to have. If you are physically moving around, then it is a need to have to warn users when they are on the brink of walking through digital walls or other structural elements.
An example when this frequently happens: when users are facing forward but walking backwards in for example a de-escalation situation: without haptic feedback, users will end up in another digital room (or physical obstacle) if they keep walking backwards without having a warning.
Our smartvest has 12 integrated microcontrollers that are placed throughout your body. Each microcontroller gives you a bit of haptic feedback.
We can vary frequency and amplitude of the feedback giving trainees different cues with our software. For example: walking into a virtual wall, touching a virtual table or feeling a simulated character touching you on the shoulders.
R4: Users need to interact with others in the Digital World
R5: Users want to move around freely in the Physical World
No cables attached is easy when using wireless streaming from a powerful PC on the side to your VR headset. However this becomes a hurdle when there’s a larger number of users in the same physical location. The interference due to wireless VR streaming then becomes an issue and cables between a PC and VR device are needed.
To prevent this issue, you can use VR backpacks (= wearable computers). They’re worn by the user with a short cable from the VR backpack to the VR headset. These VR backpacks do need to be able to run at least 1.5-2 hours on one battery charge, otherwise training with multiple users becomes a logistical nightmare of changing batteries
R6: Users want to put on and remove equipment in < 5 minutes
In the end, production of training or rapid use in operations is a key argument for an organization to use VR as a tool. From an efficiency point of view, it’s counter-productive if the trainee has to wear 10-20 different devices, turn them all on, can get entangled in wires, cause damage, etc and the inverse again when removing equipment after training.
That’s why its best to have one piece of equipment that can be turned on/off with one switch, and has one hot-swappable power source.
R7: Bio-signal Feedback
R8: Users need a one-size-fits-all-solution
R9: Users need a hygienic solution
Conclusion
The Smartvest is a ‘SUIT’ that is completely programmable based on the needs of the user. Smart eh? Designed in The Netherlands, produced in the EU.
