Where/Why/How Do You FindMe? : Visualizing Situational Awareness During Search and Rescue Operations

Sammanfattning: The intensity and frequency of hurricanes and storms increase due to climate change, leaving destruction in their trail. After a hurricane happens, it is fundamental to respond as quickly as possible, and Search and Rescue operations occur to limit human damage further. The operations take place in hostile environments and extreme situations, where speed and efficiency are essential. Indeed, rescuers must be able to have a shared mental model of the situation and act immediately. This study focuses on visualizing situational awareness in such environments to optimize decision-making.  This study has been conducted in collaboration with Frog design and Sony and is part of the broader project FindMe Tag, a system composed of a wearable device that tracks civilians’ location and biometric data. The tag is connected to an app for civilians to handle which data to share. The data is shared to the rescuers’ dashboard for optimizing Search and Rescue operations, which is the focus of this thesis.  Following a Research through Design approach, this thesis project aims to contribute to the interaction design field by proposing a way to visualize situational awareness during extreme and dynamic situations. The process resulted in a dashboard prototype to support Search and Rescue operations by providing a way to visualize data concerning civilians’ status and rescuers, communicate among teams, and encourage connectedness among civilians.