Augmented Reality for First Response Scenarios

Making life-critical decisions based on limited information about an environment is a fact of life for first response professionals (firefighters, HAZMAT teams, antiterrorist or rescue teams, law enforcement officers) and military personnel. The confluence of computing technologies and new user interface paradigms holds the key to increasing situational awareness and cognitively assisting responders. This monograph details the design and implementation of a prototype indoor Augmented Reality device based on commercial off-the-shelf components, developed by the author in the course of his postgraduate work. The device provides the user with location-specific information and offers capabilities for team member tracking. Presented here are the design rationales, user interface and interaction design details as well as software/hardware component selection and integration steps. The book is a design case study as well as an application-specific introduction to the field of Augmented Reality, and is addressed to readers of various backgrounds - Mixed Reality researchers and enthusiasts, municipal and public services decision-makers, computer interface design professionals or students.