An assignment I wrote in 2011.

Fire in the workplace, run, run, run!

 

Action-packed computer games and fire safety, two seemingly opposite ends, came together to complete the circle of experiential learning when scientists doing research at Durham University experimented on how to use these games to bring about awareness on fire safety among people who work in factories and office buildings, besides helping them learn how to avoid or minimize fatalities as well.

 

Building upon the base programs of games now sold in the market like Doom 3 and Half Life 2 and creating entirely unreal universes consisting of almost real structures, Durham experts explained that these could be used to teach fire drills to office goers and factory workers alike, which could potentially help to get buildings cleared of people during fire accidents.

 

It took one software developer all of 3 weeks to replicate a present-day structure in third dimension, add fire and smoke effects to create the semblance of a fire in the building and show 3 different possibilities of moving people to safety during such an emergency. Durham scientists opine this time frame is remarkably shorter and this option much more economical to use than what it would take to develop an all-new program or continue using the virtual reality presentations now being employed.

 

An article put out by the Fire Safety Journal about these studies explained how fire scenarios could be recreated in a virtual structure to pinpoint the potential fire challenges inherent in the building plan, make people aware of best practices in fighting a fire and develop their confidence about saving themselves and others during a fire.