How Extended Reality Tools Can Improve Training for First Responders

Many of the conversations surrounding extended reality (XR) focus on what is labeled as the metaverse, a concept that revolves around 3D virtual spaces that will allow for robust online social interaction. But extended reality tools have shown tremendous potential in other applications, particularly in education and workforce training. The immersive nature of these technologies allows for a learn-by-doing approach to education, which can be particularly helpful for those professions which require individuals to be able to make quick judgment calls, where the difference between life and death is decided in a matter of seconds. Adopting XR-based training programs for first responders could provide them with safer, higher-quality training at a lower cost while driving up investment and innovation in the XR market.

Implementation of XR in the training process of first responders has yielded promising results. By adopting these technologies, first responders have been able to emulate dangerous scenarios, such as a wildfire, in a safe, cost-efficient, and environmentally friendly manner. The pandemic provided great insight intohow government can leverage digital and remote learning tools to increase efficiency, lower turnover rate, and reduce costs in training. Immersive training programs could prove beneficial both for governments and the nascent XR industry, as first respondents can receive adequate, cost-effective, and safe training, while the sectorreceives valuable investments required to spur innovation and quality content in a relatively new market.

The immersive nature of extended reality tools has shown tremendous potential to transform education and training programs. By simulating real-world scenarios, students and trainees are provided with more accurate and applicable learning materials that allow them to move from theory to practice more seamlessly. This is particularly helpful for first responders, as recreating some of the scenarios necessary for their training in the physical world, such as wildfires or racial sensitivity training, can be costly, dangerous, or technically impossible. Additionally, immersive learning has shown higher empathic responses for perspective-based activity, commonly used for crisis management, racial sensitivity training, or domestic violence response. Another significantadvantage ofusing immersive training programs is their flexibility. These programs can be customized and adapted to simulate specific scenarios to train a particularskill or ensure that no two training sessions are the same.

Some XR training projects have already been successfully adopted by various institutions domestically and abroad. For example, the U.S. Air Force and the Australian Navy adopted FLAIM’s firefighting training simulator, a virtual reality-based training that incorporates realistic fire physics in different fighting scenarios. Meanwhile, multiple police departments have implemented Axon’s virtual reality training.While initiallyfocused on taser and handgun training,the company has announced that it is expanding its virtual training portfolio to cover other scenarios such as community engagement, domestic violence calls,andcrisis management. 

XR-based training programs can be particularly helpful for first responders needing more and better training. For example, on average, members of the police force are severely undertrained in the use of non-lethal equipment such as tasers, receiving an average of 8 hours of training in these tools, a quarter of the manufacturer-recommended training time. Or consider firefighters who have struggled to reduce deaths in the field despite increasing training hours. XR-based training programs could provide first responders safer, higher quality training at a lower cost.

But there are barriers to adoption. First, many state and local agencies may not be aware of these opportunities to use immersive learning or their impact. To address that, federal agencies should seek to share information about successful uses of emerging technologies such as XR for training with state and local first responders. Second, some rural agencies do not have access to high-speed Internet which is necessary to download large files of content and support patches. Ensuring high-speed Internet is available in these locations will help enable these agencies, which often lack the resources and facilities for training, to leverage the benefits of XR implementation.

Embracing XR technology can help spur the needed innovation in training first responders across the country.