gaming engine), XVR provides an entirely graphics-based
environment. According to XVR’s website, its mission is to:
“Enhance the competence and expertise of safety, emergency
and incident-response professionals with simulation. We do
this by creating exible, reliable and user-friendly programs
where learning is key and the instructor is in control. Every
program oers an immersive learning environment for all
levels of incident command, to be used in both single- and
multi-agency exercises.”
As Robertson tells it, the system makes a variety of
pre-programmed environments available to its users, into
which are placed the dierent elements of a particular
scenario, which could be anything from, again, a house re
to a terrorist attack. With that in mind, a core function
for West Mids is the ability to create bespoke situations
through the use of a ‘drag and drop’ menu, with options
including cars, reghting equipment and even renderings
of locallandmarks.
Elaborating on this, Robertson says: “We’re using the
UK version, which has something like 27 pre-programmed
locations. ese include a suburb with houses, a port, an oil
rig and more, all of which the user can walk around. From
our point of view in West Midlands, we’re unlikely to create a
scenario in a harbour because of the local geography, but we
do have plenty of canals.
“In terms of creating the specic scenarios, we have a
command development team consisting of around seven
people, combining the frontline knowledge of operational
commanders with the technical expertise of civilian sta. At
the moment, the majority of what we’ve put together has
been led on by me, because, as a retired re ocer, I’ve got a
combination of both.”
He continues: “e software itself could be described as
being like a toy box, if you can imagine that. Within that toy
box, there’s a play mat you can put out with buildings, along
The system makes a variety of
pre-programmed environments
available to its users, into which are
placed elements of the scenario
with re appliances and your people. You then make those
people move, as well as including ‘trigger points’ which are
set o by the user performing certain actions, such as going
through a door.
“It’s fairly time-consuming, but once you’ve created the
scenario, you can rejig it, so it doesn’t get stale.”
Timescale for roll-out
West Mids is making the XVR technology available in a
series of stages. e rst of these – and also the current
phase – involves the use of TV screens hooked up to the
system, after which the organisation plans on incorporating
VR headsets once technology such as the Occulus Rift is
deemed t for purpose.
e timescale for roll-out has also been broken down into
what the organisation wants to accomplish with the training
itself, with the technology described above currently only
being used to train incident commanders (aka, ‘level one’
training). e next step will be to bring in those at the rank of
station commander and above, whose training experience will
by denition have to be dierent because of the requirement
for them to look at the overall scene rather than focus in on
smaller details.
Going into greater detail about how the training is
currently carried out and the rationale behind it, Robertson
says: “e interface between the user and the program is
the operator. e system isn’t quite sophisticated enough
to include any sort of AI, so as mentioned, trigger events
June 2019 @CritCommsToday 33