NFPA Journal - Spring 2022 - 24

" You can dramatically reduce the
cost of training accidents. You can
reduce the risk of cancers. You can
train firefighters to become better firefighters,
especially in responding to
unique hazards, " said Jeff Godfredson,
former chief of the fire department in
Melbourne, Australia, who now works
as the director of customer relations
for FLAIM Systems, an Australian
manufacturer of fire-based immersive
learning technology. " How do you
ignore something that solves a lot of
those problems? "
THEN & NOW
The origins of AR and VR are debated-
it depends on how you define the
technologies. Some argue, for example,
that Mattel's View-Master could be
considered a form of VR; introduced
in 1939, the binocular-like toys let
you click through a series of photographs
on film. If you consider only
computer-based AR and VR technologies,
though, they date back to the
1960s, when computer scientists Ivan
Sutherland and Bob Sproull created the
world's first AR headset.
Although the device looked more
like optometry equipment than cutting-edge
digital technology-and
only showed users images of simple
shapes-Sutherland saw the potential
for the future of AR and VR, which he
called displays. " The ultimate display, "
Sutherland wrote in a 1965 paper,
" would, of course, be a room within
which the computer can control the
existence of matter. A chair displayed
in such a room would be good enough
to sit in. Handcuffs displayed in such a
room would be confining, and a bullet
displayed in such a room would be
fatal. With appropriate programming,
such a display could literally be the
Wonderland into which Alice walked. "
The differences between AR and VR
are subtle, and they can sometimes
be confused with one another. Both
display virtual objects or scenarios for
users, but with VR, the virtual environment
is all you see; in AR, a virtual
environment is overlayed on top of the
real world-in other words, you'll still
see the room you're in, but the AR will
show you other things in the space, too.
24 | NFPA JOURNAL * SPRING 2022
It wasn't until the 1980s that computer-based
virtual reality technologies
appeared, and almost immediately
the technology was embraced for its
potential as a professional tool. A 1985
video from NASA shows an astronaut
using an early VR headset to look at a
simulated rocket ship on a launch pad.
But similar to Sutherland and Sproull's
AR headset from the 1960s, the display
was crude, resembling more of a drawing
than a realistic scenario. Things
have come a very long way in the past
35 years. Not only are modern AR and
VR displays ultra-realistic, but companies
like FLAIM have involved users'
other senses, too.
In December, I was one of about a
dozen people who attended a presentation
of FLAIM's products at NFPA's
Massachusetts headquarters. The
event included a demo of the technology,
which I was eager to try. The VR
scenario in this case was a fire in a
container. Inside the container, bright
orange flames licked the ceiling and
gray smoke clouded the air. Positioning
myself on one knee, I held the
nozzle of the firehose tight and opened
it, unleashing a torrent of water.
After just over a minute of pointing,
shaking, and twirling the nozzle,
I'd managed to extinguish the fire.
Although my heart rate was slightly
elevated and a few beads of sweat had
formed on my forehead, I had never
been in any actual danger. But I'd been
fully immersed in the experience of
having to knock down the fire. " Wow, "
I said, dropping the nozzle and removing
the VR headset from my eyes. " I'm
a little tired. "
FLAIM makes two products: the
Trainer, which I had used, and the
Extinguisher, which includes a VR
headset and a fire extinguisher. Both
products include other pieces of hardware,
such as batteries, keyboards,
" You can dramatically reduce the cost of
training accidents. You can reduce the risk of
cancers. You can train firefighters to become
better firefighters, especially in responding
to unique hazards. "
shipping container located on a dock.
In addition to a VR headset, the equipment
for the demo included a heat
vest, a self-contained breathing apparatus
(SCBA) with sensors to monitor
my breathing rate, and a nozzle and
hose reel that would jerk backwards to
simulate the sensation of a pressurizing
firehose. A FLAIM representative
helped me fit the heat vest and strap
on the SCBA unit. I donned the VR
headset, clutched the hose nozzle, and
prepared to do battle with the fire.
As soon as the demo began, I was
no longer aware of being in a climate-controlled
conference room in
a suburban office building-I was on
that dock beside the flaming shipping
container, and I had to do something
about it. I could feel the heat on my
chest as I took small steps toward the
controllers, and tablets, and provide
users access to a continually expanding
library of training scenarios, from
simple cooking fires to complex hazards
like electric vehicle fires and oil
spills. " It's not the same experience you
get on the fireground, but your brain
thinks it is, " said Evan Wing, FLAIM's
vice president of sales for North
America.
The goal since FLAIM started offering
virtual reality firefighting scenarios
in 2017 has been to " make it as realistic
as possible, " Wing said, and the
company has discussed fire behavior
with organizations like the UL Fire
Safety Research Institute to make that
happen. Currently, the company's largest
client is the US Air Force, which
uses its Trainer for firefighter training.
While a handful of other companies
NFPA Journal - Spring 2022

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