Finding a Way: NEVERLOST Wearable Tech, a Prototype for Uncharted Emergency Response

NEVERLOST stands for Navigation Environment merging Virtuality, Ecotone, and Reality enabled by microtechnology for Localization of Subjects and Things. This session discusses a University of California Irvine (UC Irvine) project that investigates a technological framework for location-based services. The aim of the project is to develop a prototype of wearable technology to localize emergency responders, assets and equipment, and other people (e.g., patients and trapped persons) indoors and in covered outdoor environments, where the environment is not known and where Global Positioning System (GPS) signals are not available. In addition to localization technology, UC Irvine is developing a location-based service providing path planning and guidance for emergency responders to make immediate local decisions which would guarantee arrival to a desirable destination (e.g., exit from a building) in a completely unknown and unstructured environment. UC Irvine will discuss how localization, path planning, and guidance capabilities will form a unique navigation environment for first responders.