Advancing XR for Public Safety: Findings from a Hazardous Materials Training Study and Community Workshop

In scenarios where traditional display technologies may not be optimal or even sufficient for the needs of public safety, virtual and augmented reality provide first responders with unique opportunities to enhance training modules and better support their operations. In this session, we will discuss two recent NIST PSCR efforts to advance the use of XR for public safety. First, we will discuss the outcomes of a study that the PSCR team ran to quantify the benefits of using VR in training first responders for hazardous gas detection with an air monitor. In collaboration with academia and public safety professionals, NIST PSCR hosted the first workshop on XR for public safety at the IEEE World Forum on Public Safety Technology. The second part of this session will focus on this workshop, discussing the structure of the workshop and outcomes from the research community with an eye toward similar efforts in the future.