{"519021":{"#nid":"519021","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Keeping Firefighters Safe","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EZack Braun was at a bonfire when he thought of a new way to protect firefighters.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBraun, a computer engineering major, was chatting with a family friend who is a firefighter. He described the chaotic environments they face and explained the protective gear they wear.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI was really surprised they didn\u2019t have sensors or technology to help them,\u201d Braun said. \u201cWhat they did have seemed really crude.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBraun teamed up with Tyler Sisk, an electrical engineering major, and together they invented FireHUD. A heads-up-display attaches to a firefighter\u2019s mask and measures heart rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygen level, body temperature, external temperature and other vital signs. This information will help firefighters determine whether they are overexerting themselves and are at risk for cardiac arrest.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/2016\/03\/17\/firehud-wins-2016-inventure-prize\u0022\u003Einvention won first place in last month\u2019s Georgia Tech InVenture Prize\u003C\/a\u003E, which rewards students with cash prizes and free patent filings for inventions that aim to solve societal problems. Now FireHUD will represent the Institute in the inaugural \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/accinventure.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EACC InVenture Prize\u003C\/a\u003E. This contest, which will be held on campus Tuesday and Wednesday, involves student startups and inventions from each of the 15 universities in the Atlantic Coast Conference.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFriends since middle school, Braun and Sisk previously worked together on Science Olympiad projects and once built a robotic arm.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor this invention, they were inspired by the health bar displays found in video games.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI play, and it was the first thing that came to mind because you can keep track of all your vitals,\u201d Braun said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey also wanted a way to share this information with officials on the scene. The device transmits data to the incident commander, who can view it on a computer through an app.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe device itself is about the size of a cell phone. It doesn\u2019t make the mask noticeably heavier or impede vision, said David Phillips, a member of the Fairburn Fire Department who has tried out the invention.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of the biggest risks firefighters face is overexerting themselves because most don\u2019t recognize when they are putting themselves in danger, Phillips said. FireHUD lets firefighters know when they are in harm\u2019s way so they can take steps to be safe, he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe idea is awesome and it really could save a firefighter\u2019s life,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cYou do wonder how we went this long without something like this.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBraun and Sisk started working on the invention last summer. The original design had the heads-up-display outside the mask but it was too difficult to read, Sisk said. They moved it inside the mask and used a near-eye display, which is meant to be looked at up close.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBraun and Sisk fine-tuned and improved the design through Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/i2p.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EIdea to Prototype\u003C\/a\u003E class.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe class provides students with undergraduate research credit and a grant to build functional prototypes based on their ideas. It is part of \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/create-x.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ECREATE-X\u003C\/a\u003E, an array of programs and initiatives designed to build entrepreneurial confidence among Georgia Tech students.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStudents in the program talk with potential customers to discover what they need and want. During the fall semester, Braun and Sisk spent nearly every weekend visiting fire departments to learn from firefighters how to improve the device.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey are in the course again this semester and are still talking with firefighters. They\u2019ve learned firefighters don\u2019t like the flashlight currently on the device, so Sisk said they will likely remove it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA key point in the customer discovery process came when they visited the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth. Several firefighters tried on the device, and one of trainers wore it in a burning building to see how it worked and make sure the electric components didn\u2019t melt.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EVisiting the center remains one of the highlights of the entire invention process, Braun said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSeeing their faces and excitement as they tried on the masks was amazing,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it was then that we realized this can really save lives.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe device measures biometric data with a sensor that goes in a firefighter\u2019s ear, and the heads-up-display uses a microcontroller. While earlier iterations were 3D printed, the current design uses Teflon and fiberglass, which makes it able to withstand high temperatures.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team built much of the devices in Sisk\u2019s basement. They did some 3D printing in the Invention Studio \u2013 a student-run, design-build-play maker space on campus \u2013 where Sisk is one of the prototyping instructors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBraun and Sisk are still improving the device and will soon file for the patent, a prize that came with winning the Georgia Tech competition.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOver the past couple of weeks, FireHUD was featured on FireRescue1, one of the nation\u2019s premier firefighting websites, and highlighted as an emerging technology in the internal newsletter of a leading manufacturer of firefighting equipment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur goal is to keep working on FireHUD,\u201d Sisk said. \u201cWe want to manufacture this and make it a reality for firefighters.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe two students who invented FireHUD, a device to help keep firefighters safe, will represent Georgia Tech in the inaugural ACC InVenture Prize competition taking place on campus Tuesday and Wednesday.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"FireHUD will represent Georgia Tech in the inaugural ACC InVenture Prize competition."}],"uid":"27918","created_gmt":"2016-04-04 08:32:43","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:21:14","author":"Laura Diamond","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-04-04T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-04-04T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"517891":{"id":"517891","type":"image","title":"FireHUD closeup","body":null,"created":"1459274540","gmt_created":"2016-03-29 18:02:20","changed":"1475895282","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:42","alt":"FireHUD closeup","file":{"fid":"205192","name":"firehudcloseup.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/firehudcloseup_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/firehudcloseup_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":22701,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/firehudcloseup_0.jpg?itok=Tok-hn_d"}},"505261":{"id":"505261","type":"image","title":"ACC InVenture Prize logo","body":null,"created":"1456760341","gmt_created":"2016-02-29 15:39:01","changed":"1522856406","gmt_changed":"2018-04-04 15:40:06","alt":"","file":{"fid":"204818","name":"accinventureprizelogo.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/accinventureprizelogo.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/accinventureprizelogo.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":138374,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/accinventureprizelogo.jpg?itok=yfkQ7hvA"}},"514731":{"id":"514731","type":"image","title":"FireHUD - 2016 InVenture Prize winner","body":null,"created":"1458923790","gmt_created":"2016-03-25 16:36:30","changed":"1475895277","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:37","alt":"FireHUD - 2016 InVenture Prize winner","file":{"fid":"205071","name":"firehudfirstplace.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/firehudfirstplace_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/firehudfirstplace_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1949660,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/firehudfirstplace_0.jpg?itok=klotTXF0"}}},"media_ids":["517891","505261","514731"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/accinventure.gatech.edu\/","title":"ACC InVenture Prize"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"}],"keywords":[{"id":"171868","name":"ACC InVenture Prize"},{"id":"137161","name":"CREATE-X"},{"id":"3472","name":"entrepreneurship"},{"id":"12350","name":"Georgia Tech InVenture Prize"},{"id":"166994","name":"startups"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELaura Diamond\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003EMedia Relations\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003C\/p\u003E@LauraRDiamond","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["laura.diamond@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}