Maps for first respondersOhio University students develop 3-D maps to help first responders

A group of Ohio University students, normally focus on game development, has created a 3-D building mapping program to help first responders in safely responding to emergencies ranging from fires to terrorist attacks.

The project took close to three years, and was funded with $950,000 from DHS, which paid for equipment and travel, along with the work of participating students.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, the developers say that IVIN, or Immersive Video Imaging Network, creates a 3-D, Web-based image of the building, allowing first responders to place themselves anywhere inside the building with a 360 degree view of the environment, just like in a video game. The information gathered in this way  would allow first responders to develop the best plan for approaching the building.

“If it is immediately accessible and up-to-date, it sounds like a fairly sophisticated monitoring system,” said Greg Paxton, acting Columbus fire chief. “We have fire-planned various buildings, but if we actually had something that’s three-dimensional, that could make it more helpful for us.”

Paxton and others have not yet seen the application since the DHS has been keeping the project under wraps.

The agency’s director, Kathy Crandall, would not identify the ten buildings in the database, citing security reasons. DHS officials said it contains the most-critical sites, such as Columbus’s water-treatment facility. and other structures, based on their relationship to public safety.

Students visited the ten building a total of thirty times, taking photographs each time. These photos were loaded into a computer and the digital world was created.

The project was initiated by OU, which approached the county about developing the program. “It is much like the texture you will see in the video games out today,” McKendry said. “We hope more buildings can be added to the program, but with the significant (federal) budget cuts toHomeland Security, that doesn’t seem to be an option right now.”

DHS officials hope that the program will be adopted by other counties.

Franklin County Sheriff Zach Scott’s office will be responsible for updating and storing the technology. Scott said he plans to train some of his SWAT and command-staff members in how to use IVIN.

“This will be important to SWAT, and if you think about some recent shooting situations, it will provide us with a better tool on how to address those,” Scott said. “But more importantly, this will keep deputies and the public safe, and it will cut down on mishaps at those scenes.”