Supporting firefighter training through visualising indoor positioning, motion and time use data

Providing feedback to smoke divers following their training exercises is constrained by limitations on the opportunities for observation by instructors, as the buildings are filled with smoke. Yet, sensors that can be used to track and provide data on various aspects of the smoke divers training are becoming available. This paper describes a study of how to support firefighters and their instructors with visualisations of their training performance. The study has involved the development of a training support tool, FireTracker, that visualises data from firefighters smoke diving activity, and an evaluation of FireTracker in use. FireTracker uses data from sensors such as Bluetooth Beacons and gyroscopes to detect and visualize the smoke diver's movement and work patterns during smoke diving exercises. We found that there is a training need for these visualisations, but clear limitations on the positioning data that currently can be provided.