It is now known that Virtual Reality is relevant and useful in a variety of industries outside of just entertainment and aids greatly in job training. The Department of Homeland Security is currently looking into implementing Virtual Reality training as an alternative to real-life drills and tabletop exercises for disaster relief training. Training for these scenarios in VR are believed to make responders even more prepared than they would have been with a traditional training program. There are plenty of advantages for VR disaster response training, first of which is, its safe—first responders can practice the tactics they would need to use during a disaster in a safe environment. It is comprehensive, giving users access to a variety of common disaster scenarios they could have to face and can be tailored to specific 3 dimensional locations; which would not be possible through traditional training methods. This type of training would be low cost and will allow more people to train repeatedly, not just once. The traditional training currently offered lack realism and tends to be inconsistent; which can be resolved with VR training. The US Department of Homeland Security, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, and National Science Foundation are some government agencies using VR. It is refreshing to know that people are interested in more than just the commercial aspects of VR technology, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to believe that this technology will help improve the training of disaster relief responders, and thereby will aid in save more lives.
Below is the full infographic by EKU Online:
