Firefighters must be trained once or twice a year to keep their skills sharp. Providing that training in a safe environment is a challenge, and virtual reality (VR) enables exposure to the experience of firefighting.
VR training
In 2017, W.S. Darley & Co. first began offering VR training by partnering with virtual reality startup FLAIM, becoming their exclusive distributor in the United States.
Today, Darley has sold VR systems from several manufacturers successfully to medium size fire departments and is on the verge of closing sales to several metro departments by the end of 2022. Red tape in larger departments can slow down the adoption curve.
the benefit of VR training
A benefit of VR training is to provide more “sets and reps;” that is, more repetition of important tasks
A benefit of VR training is to provide more “sets and reps;” that is, more repetition of important tasks that provide a trainee with “muscle memory” that can kick in during an actual emergency.
Real-life training costs thousands of dollars for each firefighter for each event. In contrast, virtual training can be achieved at a rate of $15 or so an hour.
real-time response
“Virtual reality provides an opportunity to put firefighters in an environment where they can fail safely,” says Kevin Sofen, Business Development Director, W. S. Darley & Co.
“After the fact, instructors and students can analyze how effectively they completed the session and discuss the risks of doing something the wrong way. Biometric measures, provided by devices such as heart rate monitors, can analyze a trainee’s real-time response to various fire scenarios.”
safety
Another argument is safety: Training virtually enables firefighters to avoid contact with possible carcinogens.
VR can offset the use of “burn towers,” when stacks of ballets are set on fire. There is no tolerance for injury or death to firefighters during training, and VR helps to keep injuries as close to zero as possible.
Grant Assistance Program
Grant consultants provide support throughout the process, including researching grants available for first responders
Darley provides a Grant Assistance Program to help fire departments buy VR equipment. Darley works with Lexipol to guide fire departments to navigate how they apply to any of the hundreds of local and federal grant programs. The program helps departments find available funding that meets current and long-term training goals. The process can take six to eight months and requires an investment of time by the fire service.
Available grant programs include SAFER, AFG, FEMA, and local, state, and private grants. Lexipol grant consultants provide support throughout the process, including researching grants available for first responders, and understanding requirements, timelines, and applications.
Simulating response
One of Darley’s biggest wins in terms of VR training has been providing systems to the U.S. Air Force, which trains using VRthe to simulate the response to airplane fires without dumping thousands of gallons of foam into the environment, which would be required with real-life training.
Darley has also sold VR systems to several community colleges for their fire science programs. It is unlawful to expose someone under 18 years old to an actual fire, so VR helps them prepare for a career later.
Fire training
For the next generation, which is comfortably exposed to the digital world through gaming and hangout environments, training with VR is a natural fit. For secondary and postsecondary schools, Perkins Grants provide funding to support career and technical education programs.
Fire training is just one of the many emerging uses for virtual reality, which first gained traction with Facebook’s purchase of Oculus in 2014. VR products improved around 2017 and 2018, and the cost of the hardware came down in the next couple of years. For the fire service, among other benefits, VR offers a tool for recruitment.
VR Applications
There are a lot of benefits to come from reevaluating how departments spend money and how training is done
When the COVID pandemic hit, more new uses for VR emerged as companies sought ways to train at scale without interacting or having to travel. In the fourth quarter of 2021, Oculus sold a million headset units, priced around $300 each, reflecting the rise in mainstream adoption.
An obstacle to replacing live fire with rain with the use of virtual reality is the argument that “we have always done it this way.” However, there are a lot of benefits to come from reevaluating how departments spend money and how training is done. There is a need to get beyond the perception of the fire service as “100 years of tradition unimpeded by progress.”
Improve fire training
Sofen urges skeptics not to dismiss the technology until they have tried it for themselves in a live and immersive demonstration. “If you see a demo of it, you can see how it can be a useful tool in training,” he says.
One of Darley’s VR partners, FLAIM Trainer and Extinguisher, is on a mission to improve fire training, increase the opportunities to train, and support fire departments’ abilities to stay compliant.
multi-sensory hardware and software solution
The systems provide a fully immersive, multi-sensory hardware and software solution. Six degrees of movement heighten the training experience. Firefighters train on smoke and operate in a (simulated) dense smoke environment with zero visibility.
Biometrics tracks firefighters’ responses to various situations and the use of self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) hardware promotes a sense of reality. The system seeks to trick a student’s brain into feeling as if they are on an oil field dealing with a levee that is flaring up, for example.
interactive and engaging teaching tool
RiVR Link and Investigate provide an interactive and engaging teaching tool using 360° video and images
Another partner, RiVR Link and Investigate provides a “classroom in a box,” with three degrees of freedom, enabling the student to look left or right, up or down.
It is an interactive and engaging teaching tool for classroom education using 360° video and images. The system makes it easy for a fire service to create their content using a 360° camera to capture a scene, then put it into a VR headset.
hands-on, real-time simulations
A third partner, HazSim Training Simulator, provides first responders and hazmat workers with hands-on, interactive, real-time simulations that mirror dangerous environments and improve the learning experience without the use of dangerous agents.
The system simulates any gas meter in an interactive training experience covering how it is used in the field. The trainer uses a tablet and can modify differing CO and methane levels.
innovation and support
The VR training systems reflect Darley’s dedication to innovation and to supporting the fire service. Some 75% of the company’s revenue comes from products that did not exist for five years. It also expands beyond the company’s traditional reliance on selling equipment to now selling services, software, and subscriptions. After 100 years, Darley will continue to reinvent itself as the market evolves.
W.S. Darley & Company has launched a new technology division that will encompass all of the company’s current drone, virtual reality, and training programs while expanding to meet emerging customer needs in the unmanned systems market. The new entity is called the Unmanned Systems, Metaverse & Robotics (USMR) Division.