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DHS students research computer games and simulations for training

(Feb. 7, 2007)

DHS students are at the research and technology forefronts of creating computer games and simulations for training purposes. A number helped develop the CREATE Center's Firescope training simulation (read more in the February '07 newsletter)

Edward Baker - 2006 DHS Scholar - A junior at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Baker is looking forward to his Summer 2007 DHS internship. His interests include creating interactive training centers for first responders and new technologies for training including infrared cameras that record radio transmissions for sensors, lasers and laser triggers, and cameras that track movement, among others.
Patrick Bitonti - CREATE student - Graduating in May with an M.S. in Computer Science, Bitonti joined CREATE's Firescope project in Summer 2006. He sees the potential for Firescope making training more efficient by minimizing the physical resources used in real-world training.
Pam Fox - CREATE student - Completing a joint Bachelors and Master’s degree in Computer Science at USC, Fox helped create downtown Los Angeles environment used in Firescope. This includes creating the Bunker Hill Towers high-rise building -- the site of the fire simulated in Firescope.
(Screenshot from the DHS CREATE Firescope simulation)           Renee Gillett - 2005 DHS Scholar - Gillett is majoring in Electronic Game and

                                                                                                           Interactive Development at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont. Gillett has worked on games for the Alexander Hamilton Society’s touring exhibition and for the ESSA clothing line.
Pete Khooshabeh - 2005 DHS Fellow - A Ph.D. candidate at California - Santa Barbara, Khooshabeh examines the use of 3-dimensional images in training simulations (read more in the February '07 newsletter).
David Roberts - 2006 DHS Fellow - Completing a Ph.D. at the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Roberts focuses on making scenarios more realistic and complex. Technologies he is developing seek to create a more manageable training environment for the trainer allowing the injection of levels of predictability for unpredictable events one might encounter in a simulation.
Nathan Schurr - CREATE student - Interested in human and software interactivity, Schurr is completing his Ph.D. at USC. The Firescope project let him apply his research interests by looking at ways to make the software elements in the simulation run more efficiently.
Fred Zyda - CREATE student - Involved in research at USC’s GamePipe lab, Zyda is a second year Master’s student in Computer Science. Zyda has been instrumental in developing the first level of Firescope and aided demonstrations of the game to the L.A.F.D.