On-line edition |
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Simulation Software vs. the
Terrorists |
Cutting-edge programs can
both help train rescue workers and help security officials pinpoint weak
spots before the bad guys can
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MAY 25, 2004 |
SPECIAL
REPORT: HOMELAND SECURITY |
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A year ago, the Homeland Security Dept., the FBI, and other
agencies conducted five-day drills near Seattle and Chicago. As part of this
first-ever, national counterterrorism exercise, 8,500 people from some 100
organizations responded to simulated car bombs and biological attacks.
Hundreds of "patients" -- mostly drama students -- showed up at the local
hospitals faking flu-like symptoms or cuts and burns. All told, the exercise
was a success, but it cost upwards of $16 million and stole precious time
from doctors who could have been treating real patients.
Wouldn't it be nice to accomplish the same thing with less cost and less
lost time? New simulation and modeling software just might do the trick.
Long used for visualizing oil and gas fields or for designing cars, the
technology began seeping into homeland security applications soon after the
September 11 attacks. The first such products and prototypes, created by the
likes of General Dynamics (GD ), Autodesk (ADSK ), and Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute (RPI) are now being put to the test.
If these programs do the job, software simulating the aftermaths of
terrorist attacks could grow from less than a $100 million market today to
$10 billion a year, estimates Charles Foundyller, CEO of Daratech, a
Cambridge (Mass.) consultancy. To reach that size, though, the government
must first require owners of high-rise buildings and other structures to
create electronic schematics of their buildings. These digital floor plans
could then be used for more detailed and elaborate training drills.
WHAT-IF SCENARIOS. But even without such a
mandate, software companies are seeing growing demand for disaster-training
programs. Medical teams, police forces, and firefighters in 133 major U.S.
cities must now regularly prepare for terrorist emergencies. And massive
national training exercises seem to be increasing in frequency: Homeland
Security conducted the latest one in May. New counterterrorism training
centers have popped up in West Virginia and Oklahoma. And with the cost of
simulation software having fallen from as much as $1 million a few years ago
to about $50,000 today, state and regional agencies can finally afford it,
says Brad Sharp, emergency-response program manager at software maker
Autodesk, which came out with a product for first responders last October.
Here's how the software, in its simplest form, works: Trainees can access
maps of sewers and water mains, as well as graphs and tables indicating the
status of important supplies, such as bandages. The software generates maps
pinpointing the exact location of firefighters and equipment, and it runs
what-if scenarios -- such as what would happen if a water main were to
burst, says Roger Smith, chief technology officer for the simulation
business unit at Titan (TTN ). His company hopes to sell this type of
software for use by Customs and the Coast Guard.
Training software also can branch out from the exact spot where a terrorist
might strike. Programs from companies such as Autodesk allow a commander
who's coordinating emergency rescue efforts to access the floor plans of
nearby buildings, check weather conditions, even chart the demographics of
the community affected, says Sharp.
UNCOVERING THREATS. Beyond that are the truly
futuristic programs. Researchers at RPI in Troy, N.Y., are hunkered over
software that could be used by robots sent to help rescue people trapped in
collapsed buildings. The robots would snap images of the rubble and use
sensors to assess the stability of the fallen pieces, says Jeff Trinkle,
chairman of the institute's computer science department. The software would
then analyze the data and create a model of the wreckage to help rescuers
determine what areas are stable and which pieces to tackle first.
Disaster-simulation programs aren't all aimed at the likely scenarios once a
terrorist attack occurs. They also can help uncover potential security
threats. A system from computer maker Silicon Graphics (SGI ) and
simulation-software maker Harris (HRS ) has helped Canadian authorities
prepare for the G-8 summit. The system used SGI's Onyx computer to recreate,
from satellite and aerial photographs, a virtual city that security planners
could fly through while sitting in the comfort of a movie theater.
The software allowed them, among other things, to measure distances from a
particular window to the street where the motorcade would pass, to see if
gunfire from that spot would reach its target. They could also model the way
glass shatters in a blast to figure out how to contain injuries.
3-D STATION. While Silicon Graphics received
about 5% of its $962 million in revenue in fiscal 2003, ended in June, from
homeland security applications, that percentage could double within a couple
of years, says Graham Beasley, the company's manager of federal business
development.
Still, training remains the biggest potential application -- and those
programs are getting more lifelike every day. Since September, the
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has been testing virtual reality
equipment and software from defense powerhouse General Dynamics to prepare
for terror attacks on train and bus stations.
The software, developed through a $300,000 grant from the Federal Transit
Administration, uses more than 1,000 photos that recreate Boston's South
Station in 3-D, inside and outside. Trainees wearing 3-D goggles can move
around the virtual station by using a joystick, which also lets them select
tools, such as handcuffs or a flashlight.
FLOWING FUNDS? After the software is modified
so the simulated station looks more generic, other cities might use it by
yearend, says Robert Anschuetz, technical manager at General Dynamics'
advanced information-systems division. "Eventually we hope to create a
system where the trainee could even interrogate passengers," says Anschuetz.
"We also want the number of virtual people used in our simulations to go
from up to a hundred now to thousands."
Indeed, many companies expect such simulation software to take off within a
year, as various government agencies finally start to see the trickle of
funds from Homeland Security turning into a flow. As that happens, many
emergency responders will opt for virtual reality, since it provides many of
the benefits of real-life training -- minus the real headaches.
By Olga Kharif in Portland, Ore.
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