PANDORA

Advanced Training Environment for Crisis Scenarios

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Crisis management is a major issue to prevent emergency situations from turning into disasters. In last years a not correct management of emergencies often created critical situations. In the happening of a catastrophic event, it is human behaviour-- and often human behaviour alone--that determines the speed and efficacy of the crisis management efforts. Frequently speed and efficacy do not stem from the ignorance of procedures, but from the difficulty to operate in contexts where consistent damages are occurring, for the difficulty of managing emotional aspects. Training plays an important function to the preparation of the crisis manager. Currently two main modalities for training purpose are two: table top exercise and real world simulation exercise. Table top exercises are low cost and can be easily and frequently organized, but it cannot recreate the real atmosphere, (e.g. stress, confusion) and need to keep critical decisions in very little time. On the other hand, crisis managers trained through simulation exercises on the field can be very effective, but such a simulations are very expensive and cannot be easily and quickly organized. PANDORA will bridge the gap between table-top exercises and real world simulation exercises, providing a near-real training environment at affordable cost. In a real-time, physics-based environment, PANDORA authentically simulates all the dynamic elements of the entire disaster environment. PANDORA will emulate a complete crisis room: realistic 3D visuals and audio create a truly immersive, chaotic and stressful environment. PANDORA realistically responds to actions taken to enable real individual training value and the development of complete skill sets. Pandora will train at all levels of response, from management and control to all the on-scene activities for emergency organizations. Furthermore, different crisis room will be able to interact, thus recreating a near-real interconnected cross-borders environment.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Strategy crisis managers, normally referred to as Gold Commanders, are required to plan resource allocation and operational tactics to deal with a wide variety of emergency situations. The Pandora project has developed a fully functional augmented reality system (and a prototype 3D virtual system) training environment, to provide realistic, affective training, with high levels of realism, to provide more effective training scenarios and public outcomes.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

While tactical- and operational-level crisis personnel usually receive considerable practical training, strategic-level (gold) commanders usually receive training in the form of table-top exercises. These exercises use scenario descriptions and hypothetical role-played responses, and thusthe style is unrealistic and is limited in the level of emotional engagement and impact. An alternative option of full-scale multi-agency practical exercises, is more realistic but limited in scope and extremely expensive. As a result, in the event of a real crisis, it is not clear whether the training provided will have effectively prepared the god commanders for their role, potentially inviting critical mistakes, or indeed whether further training could have been provided to prepare them better.

The PANDORA project has addressed the need to improve training for Gold Commanders through the provision of an 'Advanced training environment for crisis scenarios'. The (http://www.pandoraproject.eu (PANDORA)) was an EU-funded project. The nine-member consortium which developed a novel digital support environment and crisis simulation system, to expand training exercises for top-level commanders. The project ran for 27 months and concluded in March 2012.

The PANDORA system, Pandora Advanced Training Environment (PATE), was designed to bridge the existing training styles. The training takes place in a crisis training room realised through a software client that can be downloaded and installed locally. A prototype system using a 3D virtual room, delivered via a web browser, in which trainees are represented using avatars has also been partially implemented.

Trainees would normally interact using separate workstations all in the same room, and only occasionally meet face to face. A portable mode is also possible, as is another where all participants are geographically dispersed.

Apart from illustrating real-life contingencies, PATE is also designed to stress the trainees emotionally through its realism and various crisis elements (such as garbled communications).

PATE was tested over a three-day period at the United Kingdom's Emergency Planning College, a government site in York. The trials involved an immersive simulated crisis, and 13 gold-level commanders of varying levels of experience. Participant feedback was positive, all saying that the training was exceptionally realistic. Trainers and trainees enthused about the system being made available to them for practical use.

Affording access in such a way presents a commercial opportunity for the PANDORA project, while also achieving superior crisis training. This will ultimately mean better decisions and outcomes during real events.