Experimental Mobile App Assists In Disaster Decision Making
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii (NNS) — The National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) tested two new mobile applications during the week-long humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR) portion of the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2012 exercise.
Military forces and government organizations from Canada, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand participated with local disaster responders in a simulated catastrophic disaster.
The Hermes and Glimpse initiatives are cellular based, geo-tracked, applications that allow operators to create and transmit near instantaneous information to a command cell. Developed by the NGA, Hermes operates on Android devices and lets users create real-time incident reports from the field.
“With Hermes, operators are sent out with either a (smart) phone or a tablet. These devices operate on the local cellular network and when running the Glimpse application, it allows for geo-tracking,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Trina Patterson of the NGA. “The operator can then submit a situation report consisting of images, (prerecorded) video, and the type of emergency. These reports will assist in determining the appropriate response.”
Glimpse is the visual portion of the software package that provides decision makers real time views of an event. First responders can send live streaming video while being geo-tracked from the mobile device. The streaming video is uploaded to a server where it can be accessed via a secure URL address. With live visuals, assets can be deployed with little delay.
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