Virtual Incident Management Training

Training of traffic control personnel, emergency management personnel, and first-responders is a critical element in effectively managing the consequences of road construction, traffic incidents, natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other large-scale emergencies. There is no substitute for hands-on real life training. However, the high training cost, with the sheer number of first responders, poses a significant challenge to consistently providing realistic team-based training.

In collaboration with the I-95 Corridor Coalition, CATT Lab has developed a three-dimensional, massively multiplayer training environment that will be a comprehensive training tool for the I-95 Corridor Coalition. It is a low-cost high-impact alternative for training traffic management personnel and first-responders to better respond to incidents. The system was built to simulate a realistic, interactive, and collaborative training environment, with highly customizable training scenarios. Trainers could setup incident scenes, ranging from a simple fender bender to complex hazmat fatalities situations, in a matter of minutes.

This system was built on top of a commercial gaming engine with heavy custom modification. It was tailored for a wide audience ranging from the avid gamer to the computer novice. Significant research and development has been directed toward usability, network optimization, and artificial intelligence, including dynamic traffic and fire simulations. The system is being used today as a low-cost high-impact alternative to train select field officials in the I-95 Corridor Coalition states.

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