Collaborative Research: Personalized Systems for Wayfinding for First Responders

急救人员在应对突发事件时面临着严重的风险，复杂的建筑特征引起的迷失方向是造成伤害的主要原因。为了在危机中成功穿越复杂、危险的建筑物，急救人员需要及时建立对陌生空间的准确空间记忆。这需要记忆和处理大量的信息，如地图和口头指令。任务期间巨大的信息处理需求与人员有限的处理能力之间的明显差距，在紧急寻路中造成了潜在的致命情况。本项目将通过开展灾害管理领域的信息处理与工程基础研究，为国家科学基金会“利用数据促进21世纪科学与工程”的大构想做出贡献。该项目将测试个性化寻路信息系统的理论基础，该系统可以有效地减少急救人员在个人层面上的认知负荷。这一科研贡献支持了NSF促进科学进步和提高国家福利的使命。在这种情况下，收益将是改进应急响应寻路的见解，这将挽救生命并可能减少灾害期间的经济损失。这个项目有三个相互依存的科学目标。首先，研究量化了寻路任务中空间信息与不同形式认知负荷之间的结构化关系。用于寻路的空间信息将使用语义度量进行分类和测量；在此基础上，建立了空间信息与认知负荷关系的定量模型。其次，该研究探索了有助于识别和防止寻路性能突然下降的认知弹性。基于虚拟现实（VR）的多任务实验验证了认知负荷与寻路性能之间的非线性关系。第三，研究评估了个性化寻路信息系统在模拟任务任务中的有效性。进行了整体VR实验，将新的个性化系统与当前的通用空间信息系统进行了比较。科学调查的结果包括一个自适应寻路信息系统，该系统根据个体急救人员的实时认知负荷动态调整空间信息的呈现方式，通过一组神经生物学和生理学指标进行测量。该项目将立即影响第一响应者，主要是消防员的任务。在两个项目地点：德克萨斯农工大学和东北大学之间计划了一些合作推广活动。其中包括推进STEM教育的VR技术，将研究成果整合到两所大学的课程开发中，以及开发免费的在线课程和开放源代码项目供公众使用。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

First responders face serious risks when responding to emergencies, and disorientation induced by complex building features is a major cause of injuries. In order to successfully navigate complex, dangerous buildings during a crisis, first responders need to build accurate spatial memories of unfamiliar spaces in a timely manner. This requires retention and processing of a large amount of information such as maps and verbal instructions. An apparent gap between the enormous information processing needs during a mission and the limited processing capacity of people creates a potentially fatal situation in emergency wayfinding. This project will contribute to the NSF's Big Idea "Harnessing Data for 21st Century Science and Engineering" by conducting fundamental research in information processing and engineering in the field of disaster management. This project will test the theoretical foundation of personalized wayfinding information systems that can effectively minimize the cognitive load of first responders on the individual level. This scientific research contribution thus supports NSF's mission to promote the progress of science and to advance our national welfare. In this case, the benefits will be insights to improve emergency response wayfinding, which will save lives and potentially reduce economic losses during disasters. This project has three interdependent scientific objectives. First, the research quantifies the structured relationship between spatial information and different forms of cognitive load in wayfinding tasks. Spatial information for wayfinding will be categorized and measured using semantic metrics; then a quantitative model of the relationship between spatial information and cognitive load will be examined. Second, the research explores cognitive resilience that helps identify and prevent an abrupt drop in wayfinding performance. Virtual Reality (VR) based multi-mission experiments are performed to examine the hypothetical nonlinearity of the relationship between cognitive load and wayfinding performance. Third, the research evaluates the effectiveness of personalized wayfinding information system in simulated mission tasks. A holistic VR experiment is performed to compare the new personalized system against the current universal spatial information systems. The outcome of the scientific investigation includes an adaptive wayfinding information system that dynamically tailors the way spatial information is presented based on the real-time cognitive load of individual first responders, measured by a set of neurobiological and physiological metrics. The project will immediately impact first responders primarily firefighters for their missions. A number of collaborative outreach activities are planned between two project sites: Texas A&M University and Northeastern University. These include advancing VR technologies for STEM education, integrating the research outcomes to curriculum development at both institutions, and developing a free online course and open-source project for general public access.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.