Investigation of 3D Game Engines to Support Modeling Efforts
Citation:
Burch, E., A. Lutes, G. Osefo, D. Womack, T. Boe, AND S. Lee. Investigation of 3D Game Engines to Support Modeling Efforts. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-22/085, 2022.
Impact/Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to synthesize existing knowledge and research related to evaluating the use of three-dimensional commercial-off-the-shelf game engines for facilitating the modeling of four chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) incident proxy scenarios. The modification of these engines to simulate CBRN scenarios could offer significant cost savings in the development of future decision support systems and environmental modeling tools when compared to in-person exercises (which are expensive, time consuming, difficult to organize, and limited in scope).
Description:
Recovery following a large-scale chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear incident requires a holistic approach and clear understanding of the intricate and interconnected processes associated with characterizing hazards, decontaminating affected sites, and managing resultant wastes. Without such an approach, inferior decisions may be made, which in turn could result in an undesirable outcome (e.g., increases in cost, time, and health risks). The ability to implement full-scale disaster response exercises with minimal resources and maximum control and realism is of great interest to the emergency response community. However, in-person exercises are expensive, time consuming, difficult to organize, and limited in scope. Currently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lacks modeling and decision support systems to test, train, and evaluate strategic approaches to chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear response and cleanup scenarios outside of such large-scale demonstrations or real-world incidents. There is a significant need for developing a simulator capable of visually depicting hypothetical disaster response and recovery scenarios and using these simulations to train responders/decision makers. The Environmental Protection Agency is, therefore, evaluating the use of three-dimensional commercial-off-the-shelf game engines for facilitating modeling, decision making, training, and exercise efforts for chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear incidents. Today’s game engines rival or exceed the capabilities of traditional research modeling platforms: they are capable of modeling, accurately and in real time, physical systems and conditions, such as object collisions and the dynamics of fluids, particles, and light. The modification of these engines to simulate a few selected scenarios/proxy events could offer significant cost savings in the development of future decision support systems and environmental modeling tools. The purpose of this study was to synthesize existing knowledge and related research to evaluate the use of 3D COTS game engines for facilitating the modeling of four CBRN incident proxy scenarios: transport of liquids on outdoor surfaces; dispersion of particulate matter; explosive blast physics for conducting damage and impact assessments; and effects of urban geometry on radiation attenuation. The work and conclusions presented as part of this study were empirical and observational; no scientific experiments were performed.