| March 6, 2006 Vol. 77, no.
8S
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| PERFORMANCE UNDER FIRE:
Joel Wilson wears a firefighting mask mounted with FireEye technology. “With
this project, I’ve learned how important it is to work with
the user and get feedback,” says the ME researcher, who didn’t
know much about firefighting before he began. “Now I can imagine
myself in their shoes. I always knew firefighting was dangerous but
now I understand how challenging it is as well.” (Photo provided
by Joel Wilson)
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Improving navigation in a world on fire
ME researchers collaborate with firefighters on new technology
In a burning building filled with smoke, firefighters search for one
of their own who isn’t responding on his radio. He might be hurt
or unconscious. Searchers tie a rope to the doorknob, and crawl through
a room, paying out rope as they go. They find nothing and crawl back,
guided by the rope. They move to the next room.
ME researchers in Professor Paul Wright’s Berkeley Manufacturing
Institute are working on technology to help firefighters perform tasks
like this with much more efficiency. “FireEye” is ME graduate
student Joel Wilson’s project. It’s a tiny display mounted
inside a firefighter’s mask that shows critical information such
as building floor plans, location of the firefighting team, air remaining
in one’s airtank and the nearest exits. The display connects
into a small computer attached to the firefighter’s pack.
“The main goal is to help firefighters better navigate the difficult
situations they face and save lives in the process,” Wilson says.
On February 17, Wilson presented his latest findings at the CITRIS
Friday Research Exchange in Cory Hall, a seminar program designed to
give graduate researchers a chance to share their projects with each
other and members of the campus community. For the last few years,
Wilson and other researchers have been gathering feedback on their
FireEye prototypes from Chicago Fire Department (CPD) firefighters.
Trust among crew members is often considered even more important than
the firefighting equipment at hand, so researchers faced a challenge. “At
first, I think they thought of us as propeller heads,” Wilson
says, smiling. “They were definitely skeptical and only gave
us a half hour to talk to them.” But once the students encouraged
talk about their on-the-job experiences, the officers and crew opened
up. The half-hour meeting turned into a three-hour visit. “When
they realized we were there to listen to their needs and concerns and
help them, they got really excited,” says Wilson. “The
reaction was positive. That was really cool and rewarding.”
And the CPD has given plenty of feedback. The device must be simple,
reliable and durable. It shouldn’t give them too much or unnecessary
information or be distracting. It should augment their current practices,
not replace them. It should give them more options, not instructions.
Many of the younger firefighters favored familiar interfaces from technology
like cell phones and video games.
Wilson says he’s been adjusting the prototypes based on the feedback.
Now his development focus is to decide what information to display
on the small screen and the design of its graphical user interface.
Within the next year, he hopes to test FireEye in working situations
with the CPD.
For more information, go to http://bmi.berkeley.edu/fire/.
For upcoming CITRIS Friday Research Exchanges, go to www.citris-uc.org/.
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