Firefighting is one of those important jobs where having the latest technology could mean the difference between life and death. VRFocus has reported a number of times on fire services around the world utilising virtual reality (VR) to improve training. Recently, Espon and DJI collaborated on a video showcasing how the Menlo Park Fire Department use their gear when at a scene.
The fire department is leveraging DJI’s drones alongside Epson Moverio AR Smart Glasses to save lives. The Moverio glasses provide the user with a first-person view in its transparent display, directly from the built-in camera on the drone. This allows a firefighter to not only get a birdseye view of a scene but also keep an eye on the drone as well.
One firefighter is quoted in the video saying: “If there’s a tool that can make us a little bit faster, a little bit safer and a little bit better – if it could only save one life, we should be using it.”
Combining these technologies help to give first responders the information they need to make important judgement calls, where to send firefighters first and focus their efforts when a ground-level view is just too restrictive.
Epson has been developing its range of Moverio AR Smart Glasses for a number of years now, focused solely on enterprise applications rather than consumer. In 2016 the company released the Moverio BT-300 glasses, winning awards the following year. This year saw the launch of the Moverio BT-35E Smart Glasses, Redrock Biometrics bring its PalmID solution to the BT-300, and Epson release a dedicated AR app for DJI drone pilots.
VRFocus will continue to report on the latest use cases of AR, reporting back with the latest announcements.
