Firefighter wins award
INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR HIS WORK USING VIRTUAL REALITY
A FIREFIGHTER has won an international award for outstanding achievement.
Paul Speight, whose remit with Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service is road safety and virtual reality, has been working on developing training experiences using emerging technologies that totally immerse the student in a virtual world that can be manipulated.
This enables users to interact with objects within the virtual world and gives them the ability to move about, knowing they are in a safe space.
The work earned him a nomination for The People’s Choice Award at the Mission Critical Technologies Show for Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality at the ExCel in London.
He was up against finalists from Los Angeles Police, the Netherlands, American firm PCTEL, Air France and Alberta Energy Regulator, in Canada.
Paul won with nearly half of the total votes made online.
He said: “I am delighted to receive this international award for an individual’s outstanding achievements in the public safety technology sector, not only for myself but for Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service.
“It is good to be recognised for the work we do to try to create safer people and safer places. The journey has only just begun.
“I would like to say thank you to everyone who voted for me.”
Leicestershire has been chosen to be the virtual reality National Lead in the UK, endorsed by the National Fire Chiefs Council.
This has led to Paul working alongside many other fire and rescue services on producing virtual reality films.