Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Computer graphics processing – Graphic manipulation
Reexamination Certificate
2002-08-06
2004-10-26
Bella, Matthew C. (Department: 2676)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Computer graphics processing
Graphic manipulation
Reexamination Certificate
active
06809744
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to training firefighters in an augmented reality (AR) simulation that includes creation of graphics depicting fire, smoke, and application of an extinguishing agent; and displaying the simulated phenomena anchored to real-world locations seen through a head-worn display.
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office records but otherwise reserves all copyright works whatsoever.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Current fire simulation for firefighter training is accomplished at facilities that use propane burners and extinguishing agent collectors to simulate the behavior of various types of fires. This approach presents numerous disadvantages, such as safety risks attributable to unintended reflash and explosion; environmental damage attributable to combustion byproducts; health risks to crews due to inhalable combustion byproducts; high operation costs attributable to fuel requirements; high maintenance costs to ensure system integrity and safety; and unrealistic fire simulations for some types of fires (all simulations appear as propane fires as opposed to oil, electrical or paper; and simulated smoke is white instead of black).
A need exists for a new generation of fire fighting/damage control simulation system which does not use live fires. These systems must be capable of providing a high fidelity representation of the smoke and flames, as well as a realistic representation of the environment (to include fellow crew members). Augmented reality (AR) technology allows overlay of computer-generated graphics on a person's view of the real world. With AR, computer generated fire, smoke, and extinguishing agents can safely replace live fire training while still allowing trainees to view and interact with each other and the real-world environment. This allows safe, cost-effective training with greater realism than pure virtual reality (VR) simulations.
The majority of current generation of fire fighting training systems use live, propane-based fires which are unsafe, particularly for use in contained areas such as onboard ships, and in real structures. In a training environment, the use of live propane-based fires presents safety, health and environmental risks.
The primary objective of this invention is the development of an augmented reality-based training (ARBT) system for fire fighting, with application to rescue and hazardous material mitigation. In fact, in any fire situation there are multiple goals, including:
Search, rescue, and extrication
Ingress into, and egress from, a structure
Fire suppression
Structure stabilization
Team coordination—command & control
Fire cause determination
In each of the goals, firefighters engage in a number of cognitive and physical tasks critical to the survival of both fire victims and firefighters, as well as to the timely suppression of a fire. Tasks that fall under this category are
(1) Navigation
(2) Situation awareness
(3) Decision making/problem solving
(4) Stress management
These tasks are undertaken, usually in concert with one another, to achieve the above goals. Training in these four tasks provides the foundation for a firefighter to combat any fire situation. An opportunity exists to develop an ARBT system which educates firefighters in these tasks in a safe and potentially less expensive environment, in almost any location.
It is important at this juncture to distinguish between the concept of reaction versus interaction with fire and smoke. By reaction we connote responses made by a firefighter to conditions caused by fire and smoke; in this situation he/she does not alter the evolution of the fire and smoke. By interaction we mean that the firefighter directly affects the evolution of the fire and smoke by such actions as fire suppression and ventilation. As stated above, Tasks (1) to (4) are applicable to any fire situation—reactive or interactive. Therefore, any significant improvement in developing training skills for Tasks (1) to (4) will result in a significantly skilled firefighter for both reactive and interactive scenarios.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An objective of this invention is to demonstrate the feasibility of augmented reality as the basis for an untethered, ARBT system to train firefighters. Two enabling technologies will be exploited: a flexible, wearable belt PC and an augmented reality head-mounted display (HMD).
Unlike traditional augmented reality systems in which an individual is tied to a large workstation by cables from head mounted displays and position trackers, the computer technology is worn by an individual, resulting in an untethered, augmented reality system.
Augmented reality is a hybrid of a virtual world and the physical world in which virtual stimuli (e.g. visual, acoustic, thermal, olfactory) are dynamically superimposed on sensory stimuli from the physical world.
This invention demonstrates a foundation for developing a prototype untethered ARBT system which will support the critical fire fighting tasks of (1) navigation, (2) situation awareness, (3) stress management, and (4) problem solving. The system and method of this invention can be not only a low-cost training tool for fire academies and community fire departments, but also provides a test bed for evaluating future fire fighting technologies, such as decision aids, heads-up displays, and global positioning systems for the 21st century firefighter.
Accordingly, the primary opportunity for an ARBT system is the training of firefighters in the areas of Tasks (1) to (4) above for reactive scenarios.
Significance of the Opportunity
Overall Payoffs. The inventive ARBT system has the significant potential to produce
Increased safety
Increased task performance
Decreased workload
Reduced operating costs
A training program that aims to increase skills in the Tasks (1) to (4) is adaptable to essentially any fire department, large or small, whether on land, air, or sea.
Opportunities for Augmented Reality for Training. Augmented reality has emerged as a training tool. Augmented reality can be a medium for successful delivery of training. The cost of an effective training program built around augmented reality-based systems arises primarily from considerations of the computational complexity and the number of senses required by the training exercises. Because of the value of training firefighters in Tasks (1) to (4) for any fire situation, and because the program emphasizes firefighter reactions to (vs. interactions with) fire and smoke, training scenarios can be precomputed.
As described elsewhere in this document, models exist which can predict the evolution of fire and smoke suitable for training applications. An opportunity exists to exercise these models off line to compute reactive fire fighting scenarios. These precomputations can lay out various fire-and-smoke induced phenomena which evolve dynamically in time and space and can produce multi-sensor stimuli to the firefighter in 3D space. (For example, if the firefighter stands up, he/she may find his/her visibility reduced due to smoke, whereas if he/she crawls, he/she can see more clearly.)
It has been demonstrated that PC technology is capable of generating virtual world stimuli—in real time. We can then apply our augmented reality capabilities to the development of an augmented reality-based training system.
In summary, the opportunity identified above—which has focused on reactions of firefighters to fire and smoke in training scenarios—is amenable to augmented reality.
Opportunities for Augmented Reality for Training. In augmented reality, sensory stimuli from portions of a virtual world are superimposed on sensory stimuli from the real world. If we consider a continuous scale going from the physical world to completely virtual worlds, then hybrid situations are termed augmented
Ebersole John Franklin
Ebersole, Jr. John Franklin
Furlong Todd Joseph
Bella Matthew C.
Cunningham G. F.
Dingman, Esq. Brian M.
Information Decision Technologies, LLC
Mirick O'Connell DeMallie & Lougee LLP
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