The Development of a Virtual Reality Learning Environment for Firefighters.

Abstract: This thesis investigates the possibility of creating a Virtual Reality learning environment prototype designed for firefighters. There are a lot of complications with the current training setup for firefighters, such as the environmental impact and that it is very timeconsuming. Another issue is that the firefighters are always training at the same location, which makes it very difficult to practice navigation with a thermal camera since they know the location by heart. A prototype has been designed and developed in cooperation with firefighters in Östergötland. The prototype was created to emulate a search and rescue mission where smoke diving is required. The main task of the mission is to navigate with a thermal camera in an unfamiliar apartment where training of the decision making process is in focus. The learning environment was tested and evaluated both by staff at Combitech as well as with the public at an exhibit. Moreover, it was also tested and evaluated by actual firefighters. The evaluation of the prototype concluded that it had a lot of potential to be used as a VR learning environment for firefighters. Some firefighters suggested that the prototype could already be used as a learning tool today, while others meant that it needed some improvements such as more tasks and multiple environments in order to be used to its full potential. The test results did also provide positive feedback on the usability of the VR learning environment. With some work, the VR learning environment can help the firefighters in their training.