Communications of the ACM
Nmsu Team Wins International Competition For Software to Help Emergency Responders
A team from New Mexico State University tied for first place in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Icehouse Challenge.
Credit: NMSU News Center
Competitors in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Icehouse Challenge were tasked with creating software that integrates physiological and environmental data into wearable tactical communication systems for emergency responders.
A team from New Mexico State University (NMSU) tied for first place with Friedrich-Alexander University in Germany.
Coast Guard first responders used smartphones, smart bands, and smart eyeglasses equipped with the software designs to test the applications in a virtual training environment. The goal of the experiment was to enhance responders' situational awareness and communication between team members, and to minimize exposure to threats.
"The most important part of all of this is to find some way to help the disaster responders maintain situation awareness between the workers," says Sultan Alharthi, a NMSU team member. "So four workers have to keep track of all of their teammates through their heart rates, through the vital data that we collect."
The NMSU software was designed to provide decision support between team members, monitor physiology, and relay data through smart eyeglasses displays.
Applications were judged based on multiple components, including quality, user experience, mission completion time, exposure to hazards, and neutralized threats; the two first-place teams plan to collaborate on a publication comparing their programs.
From NMSU News Center
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