Digital Twins for First Responders

So I started with reaching out to every fire and rescue services in Australia, such as Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) and Country Fire Authority (CFA). However, I only received a rejection letter 😢  indicating that they are not available for interview. Next I went to multiple Fire stations and gave my personal details but again, no call back!

In the midst of this, I realized that I can reach out to the firefighters individually. So I activated my LinkedIn premium account and started sending InMail messages to them. I managed to get two firefighters for my interviews. A male leading firefighter with 16 years of experience who is currently driving fire trucks and a female leading firefighter with 9 years of experience.

I conducted two semi-structured, half an hour interviews where I asked ten questions. semi-structured interviews help elicit richer information about participants’ experience according to Lazar. I started the interview with an introduction, explaining the aim of the research. Then follow up with warm-up questions to encourage open conversation. I used predetermined questions but also used probing techniques such as echoing participant’s voice to extract more details, as suggested by Blandford.

I used Zoom video call and explained to my interviewees that even though I'm recording the call but only audio is going to be recorded and used for analysis. As it is important to get consent I've prepared a consent form online using Qualtrics you can download the example consent form.

Throughout my work, I found Otter to be very productive for converting interviews to transcripts. For this project I have used Otter for interview coding. I used the materials to construct my affinity diagram. Below is a summary of my interpretations from the key points of the interviews. A full list of keys, facts, and Interpretation are available for download.

• Too many routing instructions is confusing for the driver one step at the time is the safest way of navigating
• Fire trucks are heavy and hard to navigate so any quick change of route might lead into an accident.
• Learning the route is a teachable skill that can be delegated to machine to reduce the amount of errors.
• Driver sits up high and has a good view, the upper bit of the view is unused which could be a prime space for a heads up display.
• Drivers consider many variables while driving and any routing assistance should be clear and at the point of action not multiple instructions that requires memorising.
• Lack of digital display makes it easier to produce a product with digital display as there are no other tool or device that might require gaze attention.
• Fire fighters use paper maps hence there is an opportunity to use HCI to help.
• knowledge of traffic is based on driver's past experiences. Any routing that could provide real traffic information could help.
• Decision making should be delegated to navigators not the driver as they are trained for it.
• Due to emergency nature of the job any situation is considered emergency which adds a lot of stress to the driver.
• Traffic consistency is the highest concern of the driver when selecting a route so helping driver to pick a route while driving to the situation reduces the time they spend deciding what route to take.
• Because drivers are constantly seeking direction from navigators while other trucks or the base is on the radio, possible routing solution.

After conducting interviews I decided to focus on providing a solution that helps the firetruck drivers reach to the destination safer and faster. As for digital twin aspect I assumed that in the future we will be able to have a digital twin of traffic flow and use the real-time traffic data produced by it and carried by 5G network. With providing navigation solution as the main goal, I did not focus on technologies that produce the traffic flow digital twin as it would be out of the scope of my research.

After conducting my primary and secondary research, I have used the data to perform analysis. First thing that I've done was to use Miro to organize related topics into distinct groups of information. This lead to creation of Affinity diagram ℹ️  . Affinity diagram helped me to summarize the interview results quickly and keep track of everything that came to my mind while analyzing the results. I've used the results of affinity mapping to create user personas 👫 . User personas ℹ️   are fictional characters that help designers and researchers depict different type of users with unique features, goals and experiences.

Challenge: This activity would have been easier if all students have had the opportunity to get together, share and get feedback. I managed to get feedback from a 2 friends on my affinity diagram but I think my study, at this stage, could improve by incorporating more feedback.

I started with low-fidelity and thumbnail images. Once I started putting down my thoughts on paper, I realized having rough visuals in front of my eyes helps me with forming my ideas better. So I kicked off my designs with thumbnails AKA creative blocks ℹ️   using just pen and paper 🎨

I have produced two sets of designs, each with 4 different designs. first set is communication with the fire truck using 5G enabled devices. Ideas from using traffic light to transmit real-life traffic information to the fire truck all the way to using drones that fly at the same speed of the firetruck and provide real-time traffic data using 4 cameras. The other sets and thumbnail designs are targeted toward providing navigation guidance to the driver. Even though that was not the primary focus of my project (based on the research and analysis I decided to focus on navigator's role in navigation), I wasn't sure enough to completely dismiss the navigation instructions to the driver. hence, I produced a set of designs ranging from using voice instructions without any visuals to providing a translucent head-up display. I've received several feedback during catchup with classmates and friends that inspired me drawing those thumbnails.

I also drew a story board ℹ️   to visually communicate my ideas. it also helps me narrate a story faster and easier. My storyboard is available for download.

Challenge: This activity requires a lot of feedback but due to COVID 19 health safety considerations I wasn't able to communicate well. for next time, I will use digital drawing tools like Wacom so I can update and share my designs easier.

The main objective of this part is to conduct a usability test of the SAVVY, and to present a possible solution of the problems I discovered during our usability tests. I chose usability testing ℹ️   to make sure the gap between how the app is designed and how it is received by real first responders. I will go through my test method, who participated in my tests and how we recruited them, the usability findings from my test, as well as recommendations on changes to the app to help address the issues I found. For this usability test, I mainly we used for first-click testing. Over a period of a week, I recruited two participants who already responded to my original interview. Both participants had to fill in a screener questionnaire for the first interview and their responses helped me decide if they were suitable for further testing. The consent form and their professional details are recorded. I concluded from my findings and analysis that while SAVVY app was efficient in terms of providing real-time data of traffic, it had several design issues regarding its usability, mainly revolving around it’s poor accessibility and efficiency, especially in sign in process. In order to solve those issues, I made some changes to the app. I believe that by modifying the app, it’s usability can be massively improved.

After analysis I realized the following points and updated my prototype accordingly.

• There is no need for password as firefighters have unique registration number. The user recommended to use the number as the app can use it for machine learning (future enhancement).
• Provide street view of the incident's location to make it easier for firefighters to find fire hydrants and the neighboring buildings.
• Provide accessability as not every firefighter is able to read the screen easily.
• Add night view as driving at dark and using the app can cause eye fatigue to navigators and they won't be able to see clearly.
• Make live traffic information optional se that navigators can see it while drawing their preferred route or alternatively turn it off.