The free interactive training tools were funded by a two-year $1.5 million grant from the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The system, called ALIVE — or Advanced Learning through Integrated Visual Environments — allows users to partake in lessons on fire dynamics, fighting fires in buildings constructed with lightweight materials, and fighting fires on skyscrapers facing high wind.
"ALIVE is an efficient, effective way to share crucial information among our nation's firefighters, a majority of whom are part-time or volunteer and lack the time and resources to seek additional training," Prabodh Panindre, an NYU senior research scientist, told Phys.org. Richard Elliot Wener, a professor of environmental psychology in the Department of Technology, Culture and Society at NYU Tandon, said research shows that using ALIVE, which has an engaging, game-like format, "helps firefighters retain the critical safety information taught in trainings, and we're grateful to have the opportunity to expand the program offerings."
Funding not used on the simulation tools will go toward a mobile app that helps prevent firefighters from having heart attacks while working.
