Virtual reality helps ensure personal safety in robot rescues

Personal safety in industries such as mining, oil and gas exploration could be safeguarded in the years to come through an innovative three-dimensional imaging system.

The software-based system is being developed by researchers at the University of Missouri, where robots are equipped with sensors to detect three-dimensional conditions on rescue sites.

By accurately rendering these as three-dimensional environments for the remote rescuers to interact with, personal safety can be protected by allowing on-site conditions to be understood in greater depth.

Associate professor of computer science Ye Duan says: "I worked with my students to develop computer software that helps the user to analyse the data and conduct virtual navigation.

"The technology could save the lives of disaster victims and responders."

Remote vehicles have recently been used in the Gulf of Mexico, with sensors allowing them to track the amount of oil spilled from BP's majority-owned rig there, which is believed to have killed 11 people when it exploded.