Incident exercise in a virtual environment
An incident simulation system supports an incident exercise in a virtual environment. The incident simulation system accesses a simulation plan defining an incident within a theater of operation. The incident simulation system simulates the incident exercise by displaying, to a participant in the incident exercise, images representing what the participant would see within the theater of operation as the participant moves within the theater of operation. The incident simulation system further simulates the incident by generating incident data indicating effects of the incident at target locations and at target times as the participant moves within the theater of operation. The incident simulation system further simulates the incident by displaying to the participant images representing the user experience that a detector would provide based on the generated incident data.
1. A computing system for administering a hazardous material exercise, the hazardous material exercise occurring within a theater of operation, the computing system comprising:
one or more computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions for controlling the computing system to:
provide a simulation plan defining an occurrence of one or more hazardous material incidents, each incident specifying a hazardous material involved in the incident and an incident time and an incident location;
specify detectors and participants involved in the hazardous material exercise;
simulate effects of each hazardous material incident on the detectors by generating hazard data indicating effects of the hazardous material incident at target locations and at target times within the theater of operation;
display an incident user interface that provides a hazardous material area with information on hazard materials involved in the hazardous material incidents, a participant area with information on the participants, and a detector area with information on the detectors;
generate detector signals that a real detector would generate when encountering the hazardous material based on the hazard data;
send the generated detector signals to the real detector so that the real detector can provide the same user interface as would be provided during an actual occurrence of the one or more hazardous material incidents defined by the simulation plan;
generate a user interface that a real detector would generate when encountering the hazardous material based on the hazard data; and
provide the generated user interface as a virtual detector to provide the same user interface as would be provided during an actual occurrence of the one or more hazardous material incidents defined by the simulation plan;
wherein the real detectors have detection hardware and a mode to receive signals that would be generated by the detection hardware if the incident had been a real incident and
a processor for executing the computer-executable instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium.
2. The computing system of claim 1 wherein the provided user interface is displayed in the detector area.
3. The computing system of claim 1 wherein the computer-executable instructions further include instructions that record a history of the hazardous material exercise.
4. The computing system of claim 3 wherein the history includes locations of the participants and interactions of the participants with the detectors.
5. The computing system of claim 3 wherein the computer-executable instruction further include instructions that provide a visual replay of the hazardous material incident based on the recorded history.
6. The computing system of claim 1 wherein the real detector provides a training mode in which signals are received from a source other than the detection hardware of the real detector.
7. The computing system of claim 1 wherein the computer-executable instructions that generate the detector signals and generate the user interface factor in a current location of a participant relative to a hazardous material incident.
8. The computing system of claim 1 wherein the computer-executable instructions for generating the detector signals and generating the user interface factor in topography and presence of objects that may affect the effects of the hazardous material incident.
9. A method performed by one or more computing systems for administering a hazardous material exercise, the hazardous material exercise occurring within a theater of operation, the method comprising:
providing a simulation plan defining an occurrence of one or more hazardous material incidents, each incident specifying a hazardous material involved in the incident and an incident time and an incident location;
specifying detectors and participants involved in the hazardous material exercise;
simulating effects of each hazardous material incident on the detectors by generating hazard data indicating effects of the hazardous material incident at target locations and at target times within the theater of operation;
displaying an incident user interface that provides a hazardous material area with information on hazard materials involved in the hazardous material incidents, a participant area with information on the participants, and a detector area with information on the detectors;
generating detector signals that a real detector would generate when encountering the hazardous material based on the hazard data;
sending the generated detector signals to the real detector so that the real detector can provide the same user interface as would be provided during an actual occurrence of the one or more hazardous material incidents defined by the simulation plan;
generating a user interface that a real detector would generate when encountering the hazardous material based on the hazard data; and
providing the generated user interface as a virtual detector to provide the same user interface as would be provided during an actual occurrence of the one or more hazardous material incidents defined by the simulation plan;
wherein the real detectors have detection hardware and a mode to receive signals that would be generated by the detection hardware if the incident had been a real incident.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein the provided user interface is displayed in the detector area.
11. The method of claim 9 further comprising recording a history of the hazardous material exercise.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the history includes locations of the participants and interactions of the participants with the detectors.
13. The method of claim 11 further comprising providing a visual replay of the hazardous material incident based on the recorded history.
14. The method of claim 9 wherein the real detector provides a training mode in which signals are received from a source other than the detection hardware of the real detector.
15. The method of claim 9 wherein the generating of the detector signals and the generating of the user interface factor in a current location of a participant relative to a hazardous material incident.
16. The method of claim 9 wherein the generating of the detector signals and the generating of the user interface factor in topography and presence of objects that may affect the effects of the hazardous material incident.