A great day of collaboration recently with Leicestershire Fire and Rescue, exploring the use of Virtual Reality fire investigation training with staff. Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to measure cognitive change through frontal lobe blood flow during the process.
Fire service professionals explored a post fire scene where they could interact with materials and the setting through the use of virtual reality.
The specialist equipment then records activity through the electrodes and allows us to explore how interactive and engaging the learning method is.
With Fire Services spending lots of resources on storage units, equipment and controlled fires to produce a fire investigation scene. This is an experience that cannot be used daily or even weekly. If staff are as engaged (or more) during the virtual reality experience then it is hoped that this can be rolled out in more sites. Meaning the service do not need use physical locations and can train staff as effectively in any location at any time.
The next stage is data analysis and exploring future collaborations. Keep an eye out for our upcoming research paper!
