Benefit of the integration of semantic 3D models in a fire-fighting VR simulator

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) simulators have become a great tool for training purposes, especially for risky and uncertain situations such as today’s widely extended driving or flying simulators. One of these cases is the fire-fighting simulators. The usage of a VR simulator to support the training process of fire fighters and managers has two main advantages. On one hand, it supports the simulation of complex scenarios like big cities, where a fire cannot be simulated in the real world; and on the other hand, fire-fighting VR simulators allow trainees to experience situations as close as possible to real fire events, thereby reducing the probability of accidents when they are going through training exercises with real fire. However, the success of the VR simulator depends on how close to reality the simulation process is, one of the most important aspects to ensure how realistic the scenarios shown in the training sessions are. This paper discusses how existing and dynamic 3D geoinformation can be loaded into a fire-fighting VR system and how the preservation of the semantic knowledge can benefit the user experience in the VR simulator. Semantic technologies are intended to help in the selection of information to get a seamless integration between the GIS data, the VR system and the tasks and users involved in the fire-fighting processes. The benefit of semantics is illustrated with some practical cases.