Kickoff of the IN.SiTu Project

The IN.SiTu research project—“Immersive Safety Training in Urban Test Environments”—kicked off in early September. The goal is to establish an immersive training center in Siegen, where emergency responders will train together in virtual safety scenarios in the future.

What is the project about?

As part of the IN.SiTu project, a VR training environment is being developed to prepare emergency responders for various situations in a realistic and repeatable manner. It is aimed at fire departments, emergency medical services, and other agencies and organizations with safety responsibilities. 

Over the next two years, the Immersive Training Center (ITZ) will be built for this purpose in the former Bruchwerk Theater in Siegen. There, up to 16 people will be able to participate simultaneously in a shared scenario using VR headsets.

In addition to setting up the training center and developing the application, we will work with future users to identify requirements for the training scenarios. Furthermore, in subsequent joint tests, we will examine how effective the developed scenarios are and how well they suit preparation for various operational situations.

Current Status

Planning for the ITZ is underway. Currently, the technical equipment is being procured and preparations are being made to set up the facilities. The following images provide a glimpse of the future location and the current state of the rooms:

In addition to equipping the center, we are preparing to develop the training scenarios. These will be developed in close collaboration with the future users and then implemented technically.

Next Steps

Next, we will hold co-design workshops with partners from the fire department and emergency medical services, as well as other agencies and organizations responsible for safety. During these workshops, we will jointly identify requirements for potential training environments and develop specific scenarios.

As the project progresses, the scenarios will be gradually integrated into the VR environment and empirically tested. After the project is completed, the ITZ will also be available for other applications and for teaching purposes. IN.SiTu is funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space and will run through June 2028.