By James Betts, Operations Director at Parotec Solutions
When the pandemic hit in early 2020, the UK’s blue light industry (emergency services such as the police force, NHS and Royal Air Force) had no choice but to reflect on their current training offering and how they could work around the restrictions enforced by the government. They looked to alternative, virtual ways of training their new recruits, as travel bans meant they were unable to use their regular on-site training. This has resulted in an explosion of virtual reality (VR) technology use.
VR Solution Providers, such as our frequent collaborators, Blackpool-based Redbox, suddenly started receiving phone calls from the blue light industry, rather than their main target audience of schools, who were forced to close.
The customers were looking to use software within the VR headsets, with training programmes ranging from flight simulator scenarios to situations involving explosives and working at dangerous heights.
According to a UK government study commissioned by the College of Policing, as of July 2022 around a third of UK police forces have used, or are currently testing, virtual reality systems to implement into their training.
Police forces who are using the technology deliver their learning using Hydra in the Cloud (HITC), which is both a technology and a methodology that allows them to recreate realistic situations. Alongside this they use a debriefing tool during the training, known as 10,000 Volts (10kV).
This allows participants to anonymously record their feedback and also comment on feedback given by fellow participants. This way, the tool supports honest participation and captures learning of evidence-based knowledge.
The introduction of this technology has already saved these industries hundreds of thousands of pounds – for example, when fire brigade training is taking place, it costs around £10,000 (approximately $12,213) to set up a ‘fire room’. This is a room that is set on fire to see how new recruits react to the situation and put out the fire in a time-sensitive environment.
Instead, the fire service can now record a 10 minute, 360 degree video of a fire room that can be reused time and time again, rather than setting up a brand new room each time. This means that training can also be offered more frequently, rather than waiting for a room to become available and having limited time to work with.
Worldwide use
This isn’t just a movement that is limited to the UK – in the US we’ve seen augmented reality and mixed reality being used in law enforcement training. The difference here is that this technology isn’t as immersive, so trainees have heightened awareness of what is around them in the physical world too.
The technology overlays images or information onto real-life objects that can help them to complete tasks efficiently, such as infrared technology, ‘friend or foe’ identification for fellow officers and sensor-detectable forensic information.
Even further afield, augmented reality glasses, which look like sunglasses, are being combined with artificial intelligence facial recognition software in China. This helps the police force to identify wanted suspects when patrolling the streets. These are commonly used in airports and highway inspection points and allow officers to cross reference information from a national database, ID recognition information and their number plate recognition software.
Keeping the technology secure
Although virtual reality technology saves the blue light industry substantial amounts, the headsets and programmes do still cost, so it is of utmost importance that the kits are protected, stored and transported securely. Kits such as the augmented reality headsets used in China also pose a security risk if obtained by criminals, so keeping hardware secure is key.
At Parotec Solutions we’ve been asked to supply custom foam kit solutions for a variety of scenarios. A common request is for our kits to include a built-in WiFi router and GPS tracking so that kits can be used anywhere and their location is known at all times. This also means that the WiFi connection is much more secure than using a potentially unsafe public router.
Even beyond our requests for VR-specific kits, we’ve had requests to make other custom designs fit for certain environmental conditions, for example we recently had a request to create a case that was buoyant for up to 10 meters (33 feet) below the surface of water.
How this technology will continue to develop
As mentioned, a third of the UK police force are currently using or exploring virtual reality headsets, and while there isn’t specific data available yet on other areas of the UK blue light industry or worldwide adoption, we expect this to continue to increase in order to save time and costs.
As understanding of the software increases, more training specialists will be able to deliver this training and troubleshoot any issues, as some pieces of training software are being tested in beta mode where honest feedback can be given.
We are expecting to see more requests for environment-specific kits/cases, such as the one we created for situations beneath the water. All of our kits are already made using military-grade material, so the kit can withstand even the toughest conditions thrown at it. As augmented reality increases in use and these kits are being used in real-life scenarios, we may see requests for cases that protect against extreme cold or heat.
As virtual reality software continues to improve, it will no doubt be introduced to a wider degree, with more training options and features available. We may even see the UK police force adopt technology being used overseas, such as the augmented reality sunglasses that are being used in China.
