Via: MSA Fire
In my previous posts "In Case Of Emergency, Play Serious Games" I covered 3 examples of games either developed or further adapted to train emergency responders who are forced to make life-and-death decisions in the blink of an eye. The 3D game called Fireslayer Challenge: Thermal Response was one of them. It requires players to react to instructions given by an incident commander. With the help of MSA's Evolution 5200 Thermal Imaging Camera (TIC), the player must navigate a smoke-filled environment in order to rescue several victims and find the seat of the fire.
The new version 2.0 of the game is now available online, and training enhancements include additional victims, victims placed in random locations within the environment on each game play, updated scoring to match new challenges, screen click-through to bypass instructional screens for experienced players.
Background
Global safety products manufacturer MSA and Carnegie Mellon University spin-off firm Sim Ops Studios have developed a partnership to bring video game technology to be used within firefighter training. For the fire service industry, the partnership marks the first such effort involving a safety equipment manufacturer and a video gaming technology firm.
"While developing HazMat Hotzone at Carnegie Mellon University, which is currently being tested by members of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), we envisioned the value of using game-based training technologies to assist emergency responders in preparing for dangerous scenarios," said Shanna Tellerman, CEO and Executive Producer at Sim Ops Studios. "In a world of newly emerging threats combined with the challenging demands of a new generation of learners, this interactive method for training in the field of emergency response is in high demand."