7th to 10th of March 2023, Kopaonik, Serbia
After addressing key issues in the Beta prototype identified during the Postojna field trials, the system was once more deployed in the realistic conditions of first responder operations.
The consortium gathered at the Kopaonik mountain, hosted by the Serbian Mountain Rescuers (SMR), to test the system in the conditions of winter rescue scenario.
Over 40 researchers, developers and practitioners from 10 different organizations came to the event. In total 17 first responders from Mountain Rescue Service of Serbia the Association of Mountain Rescue Organizations of B&H took part in the tests which were performed in 4 sessions.
Similarly to the tests performed with the firefighters, the activity was organized in a circuit with 4 exercises relevant to the mountain rescuers:
1:Vertical rope climb
2: Uphill march
3. Avalanche victim excavation
4. Ski lift evacuation
The SIXTHSENSE Beta prototype in the full communication chain was tested with 6 electrotactile messages adapted to the requirements of the mountain rescue first responders.
For the very first time the SIXTHSENSE electrotactile communication system was fully functional in the harsh conditions of the field trials.
Over 400 individual messages were received by the first responders over the course of the trials.
After only minutes of training to use the electrotactile communication system and in spite of highly intensive physical activities, the overall message recognition success rate was over 70%, with some subjects having over 90% scores.
In addition to testing the electrotactile communications and gathering the physiological data during these activities, the cognitive load and effects of fatigue on the decision making process were assessed in tests designed and administered by the researchers from JRD.
Finally, the first version of a SIXTHSENSE garment developed based on the GAMMA specifications was presented to the consortium members and tested with the first responders to gather their impressions and suggestions.