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Virtual Reality: A Training Tool for Biological Sampling Presentation
Citation:
Boe, T., W. Calfee, S. Lee, L. Mickelsen, E. Shumaker, AND L. Blair. Virtual Reality: A Training Tool for Biological Sampling Presentation. Region 7 2021 Annual On-Scene Coordinator Training, Virtual, Virtual, January 25 - 29, 2021.
Impact/Purpose:
During the week of January 25, 2021, Region 7 is offering its 2021 Annual On-Scene Coordinator (OSC) Training in a virtual environment. This week-long activity provides Region 7 Superfund and Emergency Management Division (SEMD) OSCs training and updates on technical topics, contracts, and health and safety. As part of this training, on Thursday, January 28, 2021, CESER TSCD and CESER HSMMD researchers (Timothy Boe and Worth Calfee) will provide updates and examples of current and relevant site-specific ORD technical support available to OSCs in a session entitled “ORD Research and Technical Support for OSCs”. As part of this session, a virtual reality training tool for responders will be featured.
Description:
The significance of disaster response training and exercise activities on emergency personnel are well documented throughout the literature. However, these exercises, especially full-scale disaster exercises, are expensive, time consuming, difficult to organize, and are limited in scope. One technology solution capable of addressing this dilemma is virtual reality (VR). VR is a simulated, immersive environment that the user can explore and interact with through the use of a head-mounted display. Studies have found that sensory-motor tasks learned in VR could be transferred to real-life environments, and in some cases, VR-trained personnel performed better than personnel who trained in the field. VR also provides the ability to track users’ movements and actions, including body position and head direction, which provides a wealth of information about where users are focusing their attention, what they observe from their own specific vantage points, and their reactions to the environment. This presentation will highlight the recent development of a VR platform for training personnel on biological surface sampling techniques. The platform uses photogrammetry, which is a technology that captures multiple high-resolution images and combines them with software to create a realistic 3D environment with minimal level of effort compared to traditional modeling techniques. Users of the platform can walk through various rooms, delineate areas of interest throughout the environment as potential sample locations, and select the tool with which to collect the sample. A hand-tracking framework built for the Oculus Rift S Touch Controller tracks the user’s hand to assess sampling patterns, percentage of area sampled, and swapping between sampling tools. It allows for precision tracking of hand movements inside VR environments. A user’s total time to collect a sample is also recorded.The training platform seeks to address the burden associated with planning and conducting full-scale disaster exercises by creating an immersive experience that allows the user to explore and interact with their environment through the use of VR. Furthermore, by integrating hand-tracking capabilities, a sampling collecting training module has been developed for training personnel on biological surface sampling techniques.