Abstract
Communication between team members in emergency situations is critical for first responders to ensure their safety and efficiency. In many cases, the thick smoke and noises in a burning building impair algorithms for navigational guidance. Here we present a helmet-based haptic interface with eccentric motors and communication channels. As part of the NIST PSCR Haptic Interfaces for Public Safety Challenge, our helmet with an embedded haptic interface in the headband enables communication with first responders through haptic signals about direction, measurements, and alerts. The haptic interface can be connected over LoRa for live communication or via USB to VR simulation system. With our affordable, robust, and intuitive system we took victory in the Haptic Challenge after the VR and live trials at a firefighter training facility.
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Acknowledgement
We are grateful to awards from the NIST PSCR/PSIA Program’s Haptic Interfaces for Public Safety Challenge and the encouragement of the public safety SME team. This project is also funded in part by Northrop Grumman Corporation’s SOTERIA Program and Carnegie Mellon University’s Mobility21 National University Transportation Center, which is sponsored by the US Department of Transportation. We would like to thank Professors Roberta L. Klatzky, Mel Siegel and Lenny Weiss for their expertise and guidance during the course of the haptic interface development.
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Alber, F., Hackett, S., Cai, Y. (2020). Haptic Helmet for Emergency Responses in Virtual and Live Environments. In: Stephanidis, C., Chen, J.Y.C., Fragomeni, G. (eds) HCI International 2020 – Late Breaking Papers: Virtual and Augmented Reality. HCII 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12428. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59990-4_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59990-4_1
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