Researchers from UNSW’s iCinema Research Centre and Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) have inked a five-year deal to create an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered bushfire visualisation system.

The iFire system, which will be installed at FRNSW’s Western Sydney-based Emergency Training Academy, is a 3D immersive cinema that allows all fire and rescue personnel including firefighters and incident commanders to participate in and navigate through simulated emergency scenarios.

The visualisations have been developed by UNSW’s Scientia Professor Dennis Del Favero, Executive Director of the iCinema Research Centre, leveraging real-world experiences and technology from Data61’s SPARK simulation system and the WRF_SFIRE system.

All FRNSW personnel will have access to three real-life case studies including a pine-plantation fire, a grass fire, and the 2020 Bridger Foothills Fire in the U.S.

“In each of these scenarios, users will be able to adjust variables to experience in real-time the influence of changes in factors for wind speed, fuel load and temperature on the behaviour of fire,” Del Favero said.

“The system allows groups of commanders and firefighters to immerse themselves in high-fidelity real-world fire landscapes using the film industry standard UNREAL visualisation engine.

“By changing environmental variables in the virtual scenario, such as the rise in temperatures brought on by global warming, they can experience the look and feel of extreme fires and more effectively prepare for their unpredictable and life-threatening behaviour.”

Over the agreement, the iFire system will be developed further to allow firefighters on any device in any location to “sensorially experience the look and feel” of a potential emergency scenario.

“Importantly, this will allow firefighters, for the very first time, to interactively anticipate, practice and implement preparedness as a team-based experience, to minimise immediate risk and optimise strategic resilience,” Del Favero said.

NSW Minister for Emergency Services, the Hon. Jihad Dib, said the partnership builds on previous agreements that have leveraged AI to conduct emergency response training and increase team preparedness.

“FRNSW is leading the way in the education and training space by exploring opportunities that overcome the challenges of distance,” he said.

“This technology can effectively put our firefighters in the centre of a simulated fire ground or other emergency, allowing them to develop important incident response skills and prepare for the real thing.”

Vice-Chancellor and President of UNSW Sydney, Professor Attila Brungs, said the university was pleased to be partnering with FRNSW on the initiative.

“The collaboration between UNSW and FRNSW to develop iFire to create immersive training modules is set to enhance the skills of our first responders, which will be of great benefit to our communities,” he said.

“We also look forward to the progress this frontline research will bring to firefighting techniques and emergency decision making.”

“The technology has been successfully utilised in underground mining applications, and we intend to use it to better understand the dangers of bushfires and urban incidents,” FRNSW Commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell AFSM said.

“The technology will also allow our people to practice their incident command and response when it comes to large-scale emergencies.”