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Law Enforcement Technology by Sam Simon June, 2005 The most effective way to prepare for a disaster is to train for it. When it comes to training for a large-scale attack such as a bomb explosion, multi-person hostage situation or hazardous material spill, however, the logistics of organizing the training can be just as difficult as the event itself. Due to this problem, one which law enforcement has to deal with, Forterra Systems Inc. of San Mateo, California, has developed OLIVE, a technology platform used to build interactive applications. These applications are turned into virtual environments where large amounts of people can come together and interact in the same environment simultaneously. The culmination is the creation of an online, simulated training environment or mission rehearsal environment that replicates the real world. This environment allows trainees to feel they are truly emerged within a virtual world -- an experience where they can exist and interact with one another and not feel as if they are playing a game. Forterra Systems also wanted to make this environment accessible from anywhere around the world. The type of training that required everybody to be in the same place can now be completed remotely by individuals at their computers. Replicating the real "The issue is how to get all of the different agencies to train together and do it in an efficient manner where they don't have to reserve large training sites," says Matt Kaufman, vice president of product development at Forterra Systems. "It's unlikely a domestic terrorism event is going to happen in a big empty field in the middle of nowhere. It's more likely to happen in a downtown area or sporting arena or a shopping mall. All these convenient places are here in the United States, but you just can't use them for training." Kaufman makes note of a training exercise in Los Angeles at one of the sports stadiums where traffic was tied up city-wide for a day because everybody driving by saw the police, fire and EMS vehicles and assumed a real disaster had occurred. "OLIVE is about putting people into realistic training environments and replicating in the virtual world what could happen in the real world," explains Kaufman. "If you do it in the virtual world and it's something you can repeat easily, you can get it set up and start training everybody in the same exercises." Performing exercises in the real world is expensive, difficult to produce and limits the experience to a number of times. By training in the virtual world, trainees can learn procedures and gain experience before they show up to a live training event. When they are at a live training event is not the time to be teaching basic skills. "You want people to prepare before, and then after the live training, you want them to revisit the lessons they've learned without having to incur the live training costs all over again," says Kaufman. Creating a new world Using the OLIVE technology, 3D worlds are created to stage training scenarios. Since constructing a realistic virtual world is a difficult task, Forterra Systems offers professional assistance in building the baseline content for the type of law enforcement training being done. "In a way, we provide a blank city with all the buildings and roads in place," says Kaufman. Those departments with computer-savvy personnel and resources may build their own worlds if they choose. "Trainers can tailor the simulation environment or training environment to meet the specific needs they have," says David "Bart" Bartlett, Forterra Systems vice president of marketing. "There may be some certain training areas they need to focus on depending on what agencies they are working with." Within any law enforcement environment there are assets - the police cars, barricades, police tape, weapons, etc. These are the items that can be manipulated and moved around within the virtual world. The assets are also created by Forterra Systems. The trainers can use these tools to execute different types of training. The objects of the world are just the setting for the most important aspect of this training, the people. After accessing the online environment through a computer connected to the Internet, each user is represented by a digital character portrayed on the screen, called an avatar. Altering the avatar's appearance to match the user gives the character a more personal feel as opposed to a generic artificial intelligence (AI) character. To further enhance the realism, the avatar's lips move when talking, it breathes and when wounded, bleeds. The avatars are meant to be more than just faceless characters on the screen. They are meant to be SWAT team members, a fellow officer or a partner. Responding to a partner being shot is a lot different than an AI player that has been hit - now it's personal. OLIVE provides the ability for multiple agencies to be involved in the same training scenarios. During a training event, police, fire and EMS can all be present and have to work with each other to successfully finish the training. Using VoIP to communicate over the system, each department can participate from their stations, homes, etc. and don't have to meet at a designated facility. Since the system is capable of handling essentially an unlimited amount of users, non-emergency characters also can be incorporated into the scenarios. The U.S. Army's national training center, which uses the OLIVE technology to train its soldiers, has hired 300 Iraqi-speaking people to role play civilian characters in its training scenarios. Law enforcement can incorporate this into its scenarios by having news media or bystander avatars present to enhance the realism of the situation. Using actors or members of the training staff to control these avatars makes the environment become even more alive. This isn't a game To the outside observer, OLIVE seems to deliver the same product as the first-person shooter games that line video game shelves. Forterra Systems' design, however, goes beyond the typical computer game. Most consumer video games are developed to lead a player within a limited environment, a set of tasks and interact with an AI component. A game is designed to keep the user focused and on track to his objective. The OLIVE technology is less about the game and more about the environment it can provide. "We offer more of a sand box where the trainer can create the type of training exercise needed," says Kaufman. "We let a trainer go in and really customize things for the specific learning objectives they have." Forterra Systems' aim also is to make the environments more realistic than a video game. In video games the enemies are controlled by AI. In the OLIVE scenarios, enemies are played by real people. "It makes the environment much more challenging and really gets people to focus on the learning objects rather than focusing on the AI," explains Kaufman. When playing against "the computer," the player is only learning how to defeat the AI. Once he has figured out how to beat the AI, the game is over. According to Kaufman, the conventional way of transferring knowledge in a gaming or simulation environment is to take experts and have them train the AI. In turn, the AI would then train the players. Skipping the transfer of knowledge from a trainer to the AI, then to the player, senior law enforcement officers can directly train users by controlling the enemy avatars. Trainees are now interacting with the real trainers. Since the scenario is available online, senior officers can train from any place in the world to any place in the world. "Using real players is adaptive; it gives the ambiguity of the criminal and the ambiguity of warfare," says Bartlett. "When you have that unpredictable criminal, or one of the trainers playing that criminal, it adds so much to the simulation." AI can be integrated into the OLIVE environments as well, but the company emphasizes the use of real players. "The problem with AI is that as soon as the AIs get tuned just right, the scenario changes," says Kaufman. "What you don't want to have happen is build a training environment so tailored to a specific event that you build pretty good AI, deploy it and then turn around and have trainers say we don't do it like that anymore - here's our new procedure." Kaufman notes that the military has run into this problem when creating serious games. After a game has been deployed the enemy changes or the situation has changed and the game almost becomes obsolete. OLIVE provides the ability to adapt to new situations. Reviewing the reel Most live-training exercises are videotaped and at the completion the participants go over the tape to review the positives and negatives of the exercise. This review is also possible in the OLIVE world, but with a unique twist. With After Action Review, the training session is recorded from each person's point-of-view. Therefore, the session can be replayed through any avatar's eyes to get their perspective on what they saw and why they reacted in the manner they did. "Going through the training, when somebody makes a mistake, instead of just saying 'You made a mistake,' they are able to go back and see what happened through their eyes and have everybody learn from that," says Kaufman. The OLIVE platform is a place for law enforcement and other public safety personnel to learn objectives and procedures before a live training event or a real disaster occurs. With clear expectations and learning objectives in mind, OLIVE has the ability to create a learning environment that is capable of meeting emergency personnel's training needs. |
