Extended Reality For DisasteR management And Media plAnning

Project Information

xR4DRAMA

Grant agreement ID: 952133

DOI

10.3030/952133

Project closed

EC signature date 8 May 2020

Start date 1 November 2020

End date 30 April 2023

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Total cost

€ 2 318 500,00

EU contribution

€ 1 999 450,00

Coordinated by

ETHNIKO KENTRO EREVNAS KAI TECHNOLOGIKIS ANAPTYXIS
Greece

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - xR4DRAMA (Extended Reality For DisasteR management And Media plAnning)

Reporting period: 2021-11-01 to 2023-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

xR4DRAMA aimed to enhancing situation awareness through XR technologies to facilitate the sourcing of all relevant information needed to plan necessary actions, create an as if on-site“ experience of an environment (e.g. in VR) to anticipate the planned event or an incident as thoroughly as possible, create a joint understanding of an environment (a “distributed situation awareness”) to be shared by team members, allowing for smoother communication and consultation and provide the possibility to continuously update the representation of the location (e.g. in VR) during the evolving incident/event to understand and potentially re-assess the consequences of specific decisions.
The overall objectives of the project have been the development of multi-sensor data analysis methods for situation awareness and semantic integration and reasoning on audiovisual and smart sensor inputs, to develop enhanced interactive AR applications for outdoor media production and disaster management and immersive environments for strategic planning of media productions and disaster management, to collect heterogeneous data, to implement interactive Situation Awareness Platforms, to specify user needs, the xR4DRAMA evaluation and dissemination of project results, standardization, the collaboration with external bodies and the market analysis, sustainability and exploitation plan, as well as a business model.
All objectives were met (technical, scientific, user, impact making). We developed a comprehensive XR platform and toolset for all operational aspects in disaster management and media production planning and all involved professional groups and citizens. The evaluations validated the significant added value of the xR4DRAMA platform.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the first half (M1-M12) of the project, xR4DRAMA accomplished all the objectives and reached the first milestone (MS1). In particular, the project management and quality assurance plan, and the data management and self-assessment plan have been compiled. Pilot use cases, initial user requirements and the implementation plan of the xR4DRAMA platform were defined. The dissemination and communication strategy was set up and the first dissemination activities were completed. An initial market analysis was conducted, and a preliminary exploitation plan was specified. Special attention was paid to the ethics concerns and an Ethics Advisory Board was formed. Several ethics requirements were adequately addressed, and an ethics guide was created towards compliance with the ethics principles and EU Data protection rules.
In the framework of the second milestone (MS2), research and development have been continued and the majority of the scientific, technological, user and impact creation goals that belong to MS2 have been achieved. The implementation of the 1st version of the modules was completed. The xR4DRAMA data repository was enriched with digital content from drone and camera recordings.
During the second period (M13-M30) MS2 was concluded, the integration of technical modules and 1st integrated prototype of the platform, and a report on dissemination, collaboration and standardization activities. MS3 was reached, specifically the i) 1st prototype evaluation and updated user requirements; ii) market analysis, exploitation and sustainability plans and business models. Also, MS4 was reached, specifically the final (updates) technical modules and final system prototype integration and delivery. MS5 accomplished the final system evaluation, final activity report and self-assessment, exploitation and sustainability plans, and the final ethics report.
The dissemination plan has been thoroughly elaborated. The exploitation plan was updated as part of deliverable D7.5. Regarding dissemination activities, the xR4DRAMA Documentary was completed. Additional actions have been the continuous posting on xR4DRAMA blog, LinkedIn and Twitter (s. D 1.3 for details), an intro to xR4DRAMA for journalists and on XR Hubs and the xR4DRAMA Poster and Postcard were prepared. More details for the dissemination activities can be found at D 1.3. A significant number of academic publications (in total 15 conference/journal papers) is part of the dissemination of projects' results.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

xR4DRAMA’s overall impact introduced the concept of situation awareness to improve the anticipation, planning, observation and managing of large-scale events. This refers not only to unexpected or sudden occurrences (e.g. natural disasters or accidents), but also to planned events, such as media productions, demonstrations, sport or cultural events, and the organisation of large-scale gatherings in general (more details in D1.3).

Dissemination and communication activities during the project reached out startups and SMEs. The consortium followed a content marketing approach, contacts (and leads) were generated by demonstrating knowledge, asking questions, and explaining how xR4DRAMA as a platform can benefit individual companies and their solutions. The consortium got connected with stakeholder companies across Europe, many of which had already been active in the IT and media bubble but were at the same time new to the multimodal approach of xR4DRAMA, and promoted the idea to boost situation awareness via an XR-AI-IoT mix, clear contribution to Pan-European R&D communication and technology transfer. Adopting xR4DRAMA promises European SMEs a competitive advantage, enhancing productivity and fostering innovation. xR4DRAMA's fusion of technologies cultivates a suite of applications with transformative potential across diverse business sectors.
Within the disaster management sector, xR4DRAMA presents a custom tool conforming to rigorous cybersecurity, data retention, backup, and disaster recovery standards. Its proficiency extends to data interoperability and portability, team management, and localisation. The incorporated VR/AR technologies facilitate a virtual platform, enabling emergency planners visualising safe paths and potential impediments-an invaluable asset to SMEs dedicated to safety and security management, making xR4DRAMA an instrumental tool in modern business operations.
At the media sector, xR4DRAMA and products derived from it may become powerful, disruptive tools for production planners/content creators and their teams and offer a detail-rich, customised, immersive, and completely private 3D map with multimedia notebook and task managing functions. This could change the game for countless media workers producing content "in the field" – a great opportunity for SMEs in the interactive technical sector.

xR4DRAMA delivered several high-impact contributions to the technical and scientific fields of relevance. 3D reconstruction and modelling based on multimodal content were improved as large-scale data collection and processing algorithms dealt with challenges of real-world conditions of the pilots and aimed at faster reconstruction times while maintaining precision. Multimodal analysis, from IoT signals to GIS, video, text, and audio went beyond the SoA for the assessment of the current situation in public spaces during crisis incidents and events, allowing to manage risks, and plan media productions or intervene when appropriate using the xR4DRAMA decision support system (more details in D1.3).

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