The NAVAL FIRE FIGHTING TRAINING and EDUCATION SYSTEM (NAFTES) is a holistic framework for the training of crew and officers in simulated fire conditions in representative ship engineering compartments. NAFTES assumes three different facets structured around the Fire Fighting Simulator (FFS) and Crew Evacuation Simulator (Damage Control School) of the Naval Training Command of the Hellenic Navy. The FFS, a central component in the Damage Control School, has been in operation since 2006 and adopts a conventional training workflow which will be radicalized through NAFTES. The Hellenic Navy (participating organization in NAFTES through the Hellenic Ministry of Defense, HMOD) intends to broaden the use and extend the scope of this unique training platform to commercial shipping companies from all around the globe. Therefore, NAFTES is considered of paramount importance to the Greek shipping industry, one of the most important sectors of the Greek economy which currently undergoes a serious crisis. The different facets of NAFTES are the following:• Introductory Training (IT)• Theoretical (classroom) Training (THT)• Hands-On Training (HOT)IT is to be materialized through a properly structured/populated tele-training (TT) platform based on an advanced learning management system (LMS), which allows crews and assigned officers to become acquainted with the fire training fundamentals and the particulars of the FFS. Such introductory training will allow the training capacity of the Damage Control School to be highly increased while meeting the challenges and needs of modern shipping businesses. Trainees with very busy professional schedule can undertake the introductory training in their premises ashore or in their ships while stationed at remote harbors. THT, performed in the Damage Control School by highly skilled instructors, will be supplemented by multimedia material (videos, animations, slides), which is to be integrated in the LMS, retrieved and presented during classroom hours. HOT will be an advanced portable system, which will be carried by trainees during their presence in the simulated (and fire impacted) engineering room. The system will come in the form of augmented reality (AR) applications, which will overlay warnings or explanatory text to their viewport of the training “stage”. Such applications will be executed in optical head-mounted displays (google glasses), which will retrieve material from the LMS. A very important feature of such devices is their indoor localization capability. This is to be exploited by HOT in order to deliver a full image of the training “stage” to the DCS instructor . Τhe NAFTIS platform will be complemented by a post-training assessment module (online) which will be appended in the IT-THT-HOT workflow.
Context/background of the project NAFTES was based on an innovative idea at developing a holistic Naval Fire Fighting Training and Education System (NAFTES) to complement existing training infrastructure available in a special Unit of the HMOD (Hellenic Navy, Naval Training Command). The innovative aspect of the project was the development of specialized content, currently missing by the training and content market, but highly demanded from the naval industry, i.e., content for training crew members and staff of engineering premises on facing effectively fire situations. In addition, the business aspect of the project was to highly increase the training capacity of the Damage Control School, in order to meet the challenges and needs of modern maritime businesses. Finally, the technological innovation was the integration of Augmented Reality (AR) technologies, interfaces and equipment, for on-site training, enhancing NAFTES drills and exercises. Objectives The NAFTES project aiming at enhancing the quality of the training of ships crews, both military and commercial ones, on firefighting operations. The training is provided through an on-line platform, called NAFTES Etraining, which includes the use of rich media content, interactive content, innovative tools, mobile apps and AR (Augmented Reality) applications. Participating organizations The partnership comprises a multi-disciplinary team of four partners: naval firefighting experts from both navy (HMOD) and commercial shipping (DANAOS), education and pedagogic expert partners as well as ICT and multimedia specialists (GUnet, IES). Impact The ability to train crews and officers on a vessel stationed away from relevant premises or on board is will have a positive impact in the shipping businesses and in this sense it will have a broader international effect and impact. The Initial Training of a crew combined with traditional drills, and the completion of the training at a later time at the crew's convenience will only have a positive effect. At the same time the use of cutting edge technology such as AR prepares the crew, both mentally and physically, to achieve better fire-fighting skills and techniques. The efficiency in dealing with similar crisis situations onboard is of paramount importance for all participating countries (e.g., Greece, Cyprus and Italy) where the maritime industry is a key asset. Results The most important results of the project are the following: - The User Requirements Report (Output 1) made clear the need for onboard training, teleconference facilities, more AR Scenarios, in addition to the online blended firefighting training. The report includes analysis and discussions on the current state of art, good practices, pedagogical approaches, and the needs of the target groups. The main results had a major impact in the way that NAFTES was designed. - The NAFTES Fire Fighting Toolbox (Output 2), aimed at developing original, high quality and interactive educational materials for NAFTES Firefighting Training that follow the requirements and the standards of both adult and vocational training. It includes: a) the NAFTES Fire Fighting Training Curriculum an outline of the two different levels of Fire Fighting Training – A. Basic Firefighting, B. Advanced Firefighting, b) Course modules design and development of all training materials, c) Video shooting complete firefighting scenarios into the Fire Simulator in the HN Damage Control School and d) Translations into partners’ languages: en, it, el. - The NAFTES eTraining Platform and AR Application (Output 3) supports the delivery of all materials of the project and make online interactive tools such as teleconference, online synchronous and asynchronous communication, interactive modules, self-assessment exercises, etc. All educational materials are also presented open to the public through the NAFTES Open Digital library. Additionally, the NAFTES Etraining platform support the content downloading and its offline usage (without the need of Internet) supporting onboard training. - NAFTES Mobile Etraining application is a native app that provides an alternative means of accessing the materials hosted in the NAFTES Etraining platform and can be used as a virtual information and learning environment as well as for disseminating the project results. - NAFTES Firefighting AR Apps is one of the most important innovations introduced by the project and can be used as a tool for acquiring knowledge, motivating and encouraging trainees. At the NAFTES application only one AR App for Hololens Glasses was promised, but finally 3 different AR application for mobile devices and 3 for Hololens glasses were developed. Longer-term benefits NAFTES is expected to increase significantly the training capacity of the Damage Control School and can be considered as a stable basis for building new training activities for ship crews and for the personnel of any kind of engineering premises.