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Virtual Reality: The Future of Law Enforcement Training



Virtual Reality: The Future of Law Enforcement Training

By Jeffrey S. Hormann, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Chief
Warrant Officer Hormann is the Special Agent in Charge of the
Fort Belvoir Resident Agency, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation
Command, Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

A late night police pursuit of a suspected drunk driver winds
through abandoned city streets. The short vehicle chase ends in a
warehouse district where the suspect abandons his vehicle and
continues his flight on foot. Before backup arrives, the rookie
patrol officer exits his vehicle and gives chase. A quick run along a
loading dock ends at the open door to an apparently unoccupied
building. The suspect stops, brandishes a revolver, and fires in the
direction of the pursuing officer before disappearing into the
building. The officer, shaken but uninjured, radios in his location
and follows the suspect into the building.

Did the officer make a good decision? Probably not by most
departments' standards. Whether the officer's decision proves right
or wrong, the training gained from this experience is immeasurable,
that is, provided the officer lives through it. Fortunately for this
officer, the scenario occurred in a realistic, high-tech world called
virtual reality, where training can have a real-life impact without the
accompanying risk. TRADITIONAL TRAINING LIMITATIONS

Experience may be the best teacher, but in real life, police officers
may not get a chance to learn from their mistakes. To survive, they
must receive training that prepares them for most situations they
might encounter on the street. However, because many training
programs emphasize repetition to produce desired behaviors, they
may not achieve the intended re-sults, especially after students
leave the training environment. Thus, the more realistic the training,
the greater the lessons learned.

Additionally, even some in law enforcement may fall prey to the
effects of what has come to be termed "The MTV Generation."1 As
products of this generation, today's young officers purportedly have
short attention spans requiring new, nontraditional training
methods. The key to teaching this new breed is to provide fast-
paced, attention-getting instruction that is clear, concise, and
relevant.2 TRAINING WITH VIRTUAL REALITY

Virtual reality can provide the type of training that today's law
enforcement officers need. By completely immersing the senses in a
computer-generated environment, the artificial world becomes
reality to users and greatly enhances their training experiences.

Although considerable research and development have been
conducted in this field, only a limited amount has applied directly
to law enforcement. The apparent reason simply is that, for the
most part, law enforcement has not asked for it.

Because virtual reality technology is relatively new, most law
enforcement administrators know little about it. They know even
less about what it can do for their agencies. By understanding what
virtual reality is, how it works, and how it can benefit them, law
enforcement administrators can become involved in the
development of this important new technology.

WHAT IS VIRTUAL REALITY? Simply stated, virtual reality is
high-tech illusion. It is a computer-generated, three-dimensional
environment that engulfs the senses of sight, sound, and touch.
Once entered, it becomes reality to the user.

Within this virtual world, users travel among, and interact with,
objects that are wholly the products of a computer or
representations of other participants in the same environment. The
limits of this virtual environment depend on the sophistication and
capabilities of the computer and the software that drives the system.
HOW DOES VIRTUAL REALITY WORK?

Based on data entered by programmers, computers create virtual
environments by generating three-dimensional images. Users
usually view these images through a head-mounted device, which
can be a helmet, goggles, or other apparatus that restricts their
vision to two small video monitors, one in front of each eye. Each
monitor displays a slightly different view of the environment, which
gives users a sense of depth.

Another device, called a position tracker, monitors users' physical
positions and provides input to the computer. This information
instructs the computer to change the environment based upon users'
actions. For example, when users look over their shoulders, they
see what lies behind them.

Because virtual reality users remain stationary, they use a joy stick
or track ball to move through the virtual environment. Users also
may wear a special glove or use other devices to manipulate objects
within the virtual environment. Similarly, they can employ virtual
weapons to confront virtual aggressors.

To enhance the sense of reality, some researchers are experimenting
with tactile feedback devices (TFDs). TFDs transmit pressure,
force, or vibration, providing users with a simulated sense of
touch.3 For example, a user might want to open a door or move an
object, which in reality, would require the sense of touch. A TFD
would simulate this sensation. At present, however, these devices
are crude and somewhat cumbersome to use.

USES FOR VIRTUAL REALITY

In today's competitive business environment, organizations
continuously strive to accomplish tasks faster, better, and
inexpensively. This especially holds true in training.

Virtual reality is emerging rapidly as a potentially unlimited
method for providing realistic, safe, and cost-effective training. For
example, a firefighter can battle the flames of a virtual burning
building. A police officer can struggle with virtual shoot/don't
shoot dilemmas.4 Within a virtual environment, students can make
decisions and act upon them without risk to themselves or others.
Instructors can critique students' actions, enabling students to
review and learn from their mistakes. This ability gives virtual
reality a great advantage over most conventional training methods.

Military Training

The Department of Defense (DOD) leads public and private
industry in developing virtual reality training. Since the early
1980s, DOD has actively researched, developed, and implemented
virtual reality to train members of the armed forces to fight
effectively in combat. DOD's current approach to virtual reality
training emphasizes team tactics. Groups of military personnel from
around the world engage in combat safely on a virtual battlefield.
Combatants never come together physically; rather, simulators
located at various sites throughout the world transmit data to a
central location, where the virtual battle is controlled. Because it
costs less to move information than people, this form of training
has proven quite cost-effective.

An additional benefit to this type of training is that battles can be
fought under varying conditions. Virtual battlefields re-create real-
world locations with interchangeable characteristics. To explore
"what if." scenarios, participants can modify enemy capabilities,
terrain, weather, and weapon systems.

Virtual reality also can re-create actual battles. Based on
information from participants, the Institute for Defense Analyses
re-created the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment Offensive conducted
in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. The success of the virtual
re-creation became apparent when, upon viewing the simulations,
soldiers who had fought in the actual battle reported the extreme
accuracy of the event's depiction and the feeling of reliving the
battle.5 Clearly, virtual reality holds great potential for accurate
review and analysis of real-world situations, which would be
difficult to accomplish by any other method. Preliminary studies
show that military units perform better following virtual reality
training.6 Even though virtual environments are only simulations,
the complete immersion of the senses literally overwhelms users,
totally engrossing them in the action. This realism presumably
plays a major role in the program's success and likely will prove
positive in future endeavors. In fact, due to its success in training
multiple participants in group combat situations, DOD plans to
train infantry personnel individually with virtual reality fighting
skill simulators.7

Law Enforcement Training

While virtual reality has proven its value as a training and planning
tool for the military, applications for this technology reach far
beyond DOD. To varying degrees, many military uses can transfer
to law enforcement, including training in firearms, stealth tactics,
and assault skills.

Unfortunately, few organizations have dedicated resources to
developing virtual reality for law enforcement. According to a
recently published resource guide, more than 100 companies
currently are developing and/or selling virtual reality hardware or
software. However, none of these firms mentioned law enforcement
uses.8

Further, a review of relevant literature revealed numerous articles
on virtual reality technology, but only a few addressed law
enforcement applications. Yet, virtual reality clearly offers law
enforcement benefits in a number of areas, including pursuit
driving, firearms training, high-risk incident management, incident
re-creation, and crime scene processing.

Pursuit Driving

Pursuit driving represents one area in which a virtual reality
application has become reality for law enforcement. Law
enforcement personnel identified a need and provided input to a
well-known private corporation that developed a driving simulator
equipped with realistic controls.

The simulator provides users with realistic steering wheel feedback,
road feel, and other vehicle motions. The screen possesses a 225-
degree field of view standard, with 360-degree coverage optional.
Simulations can involve one or more drivers, and environments can
alternate between city streets, rural back roads, and oval tracks. The
vehicle itself can change from a police car to a truck, ambulance, or
a number of others. Virtual reality driving simulators provide police
departments invaluable training at a fraction of the long-term cost
of using actual vehicles. In fact, the simulator is being used by a
number of police departments around the country.

During the past year, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office
Emergency Vehicle Operations Center (EVOC) has used a four-
station version of the driving simulator to train its officers. The
simulators help students develop judgment and decisionmaking
skills, while providing an environment free from risk of injury to
students or damage to vehicles. Still, as the EVOC supervisor
cautions, virtual reality training should complement, not replace,
actual behind-the-wheel instruction.9 Firearms Training

Virtual reality could greatly enhance shoot/don't shoot training
simulators currently in use, such as the Firearms Training System, a
primarily two-dimensional approach that possesses limited
interactive capabilities. A virtual reality system would allow
officers to enter any three-dimensional environment alone or as a
member of a team and confront computer-generated aggressors or
other virtual reality users. Evaluators could observe the training
from any perspective, including that of the officers or the
aggressors, or from any other location in the environment. Training
scenarios could involve actual building floor plans or local city
streets, and criteria such as weather, number of participants, or
types of weapons could be altered easily. High-Risk Incident
Management

In addition to weapons training, virtual reality could prove
invaluable for SWAT team members before high-risk tactical
assaults. Floor plans and other known facts about a structure or
area could be entered into a computer to create a virtual
environment for commanders and team members to analyze prior to
action.

Incident Re-Creation

Law enforcement agencies could collect data from victims,
witnesses, suspects, and crime scenes to re-create traffic accidents,
shootings, and other crimes. The virtual environment created from
the data could be used to refresh the memories of victims and
witnesses, to solve crimes, and ultimately, to prosecute offenders.

Crime Scene Processing

Virtual reality crime scenes could be used to train both detectives
and patrol officers. Students could search the site and retrieve and
analyze evidence without ever leaving the station. Actual crime
scenes could be re-created to add realism to training or to evaluate
prior police actions.

IS VIRTUAL REALITY VIRTUALLY PERFECT?

Though virtual reality may appear to be the ideal law enforcement
tool, as with any new technology, some drawbacks exist. Currently,
areas of concern range from cumbersome equipment to negative
physical and psychological effects experienced by some users.
Fortunately, however, the field is evolving and improving
constantly, and as virtual reality gains widespread use, most major
concerns should be dispelled. Physical Limitations and Effects

Because computers currently are not fast enough to process large
amounts of graphic information in real time, some observers
describe virtual environments as "slow- moving."10 The human eye
can process images at a rate much faster than a computer can
generate them. In a virtual environment, frames are displayed at a
rate of about 7 per second, an extremely slow speed when
compared to a television, which generates 60 frames per second.11
Users find the resulting choppy or slow graphics less than
appealing.

Slow graphics also produce a phenomenon known as simulator
sickness. Some virtual reality users experience disorientation and
nausea somewhat akin to motion sickness. Simulator sickness
occurs because the eyes are accustomed to real-world speed; virtual
reality's slower graphics negatively affect about 8 to 10 percent of
all users. However, as the motion more closely mimics real-time
speed, fewer people will experience such ill effects.12

Another equipment shortfall is the head-mounted device (HMD). In
general, HMDs are large and awkward, and many users find them
uncomfortable. Although virtual reality innovators generally view
this as a relatively minor problem, they are working to improve
design. One HMD currently under development compares in size
and shape to a pair of sunglasses. Rather than using small video
monitors, the glasses contain laser-imaging equipment that projects
the virtual image directly onto the user's retina. In other words, the
retina itself provides the screen for the virtual image, which will be
as detailed as any computer graphics produced on a monitor.13

Psychological Effects

Mental health professionals have expressed concern about the
psychological impact virtual reality may have on users, who
experience a loss of contact with the real world. Some individuals
may be especially at risk, including drug users, individuals with
schizophrenia or other mental disorders, and people who are
emotionally unstable.14 However, due to the recent emergence of
virtual reality technology, little research exists to support
psychologists' health concerns.15 As more individuals and
organizations use virtual reality, researchers can study its
potentially negative effects. In the mean time, law enforcement
agencies should be aware that virtual reality users may experience
some ill effects.

CONCLUSION

At present, many individuals equate virtual reality with science
fiction; yet, with numerous commercial firms and nonprofit
organizations dedicated to its development, virtual reality soon will
be an important part of life, especially for law enforcement
personnel. By understanding how the technology works and what it
can accomplish, law enforcement organizations can become active
in research and development and request that applications be
developed to meet their special needs.

Virtual reality by no means represents a panacea for all aspects of
police work. However, this new and intriguing technology holds
great potential for opening the door to a multitude of possibilities.
In its present form, virtual reality allows law enforcement officers
to enter a virtual training environment and react to real-world
situations without the accompanying dangers. Virtual environments
can be created and re-created to test and evaluate strategies both
before and after using them in a real situation.

In the case of the officer in the opening virtual reality scenario, he
became caught up in the heat of the moment and entered a
dangerous situation without backup. Fortunately, this officer could
return to the real world, review his actions, and learn from his
mistakes. Law enforcement officers who make errors in judgment
sometimes pay for it with their lives. Virtual reality forgives
mistakes and gives officers a second chance.
 
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