Virtual Reality Tools for Emergency Operation Support and Training

This paper discusses the current state of the art of virtual reality (VR) technology within the context emergency operation support and training. Recent widely reported fatal road and railway tunnel accidents (e.g. Mont Blanc, Kaprun) have highlighted the problems that arise when evacuating people to safety in the event of a fire in a confined space with limited exit possibilities. Similar problems arise in the evacuation of aircraft and high-speed trains or subways. In order to improve preparedness plans, it is necessary to develop rescue scenarios to ascertain the fire safety and to train rescue personnel by simulation of fire emergencies. The integration of VR technology with traditional geographical information systems and tools for managing emergency procedures is particularly interesting from both a decision support and training perspective. A VR interface could either replace a conventional 2D interface or complement it, depending on user requirements. This paper proposes VR methodologies as the only feasible alternative to full-scale fire tests inside tunnels. In a computer simulation-based virtual environment, all data about infrastructure, safety equipment, ventilation resources, fire and smoke propagation, and vehicle/passengers involvement could be managed by a single database. Fire and smoke simulation tools as well as computerised emergency procedures, acting on the virtual data, could also be integrated in such a system and utilised for training support by the emergency operators.