The Technical Development of an Extended Reality Research Testbed for Public Safety

The study of public safety technology, interventions, and training involves variable and hazardous conditions, which complicate observation and measurement. Informative evaluation approaches require reasonable representation of these conditions. Nonetheless, representing these conditions is resource intensive and difficult to replicate. For these reasons, public safety research may be limited by low-fidelity approaches that differ from the intended real-world application and by the inaccessibility of more realistic training. Extended Reality (XR) environments offer highly immersive and repeatable training for first responders, as well as controlled methods for technical research. In this paper, we discuss the development of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Public Safety Immersive Test Center (PSITC): a testbed for multi-sensory extended reality-based research for public safety scenarios. We describe how the PSITC supports realistic training for public safety with an overview of the center's design, development, and technical implementation. We discuss methods to address the challenges of building such a testbed for XR-based research, including integration of nascent technologies from various vendors, extensive use of sensor and imaging technologies, and intergovernmental cooperation between the First Responder Network Authority and the NIST Public Safety Communications Research Division. This paper introduces a model for the development of immersive centers built to evaluate prototypes for public safety operations, improve training for emergency response, and support public safety technology research.