Author: V. Iyengar, Megaphone Editor-in-chief

As fires ravage Southern California, local firefighters in Menlo Park are training with augmented reality (AR) googles that could potentially make it easier for them to save lives.

When firefighters enter a burning building, they face danger, not only from the fire, but also from the smoke produced by that fire, which can make it difficult to breathe and see. The goggles these firefighters are trying out may solve at least the latter half of this problem. Mounted to the firefighters’ helmets, these goggles allow firefighters to see the heat source, the internal structure of the building they’re in, including rooms, staircases, pillars, etc, as well as people who are blurred by the smoke. 

As Menlo Park Fire Technology Specialist Mike Ralston told CBS News, “Injuries and fatalities occur, sometimes within two or three feet of an actual exit. Simply because they can’t see, they can’t find an exit that’s right next to them.”

Additionally, a majority of firefighter deaths, are caused because they get lost or trapped. 

These goggles are meant to replace thermal vision cameras, which many firefighters began carrying in the late 1990s and still carry. While this was an improvement from going in without a thermal vision camera, they had drawbacks. A major issue is that  they do not permit firefighters to operate with their hands free. They require the first responder to first stop, focus on the small screen, try to make out what is happening, and then go into action. Additionally, they do not permit firefighters to see internal structures or large objects that could get it their way.

By contrast, these AR masks attach thermal imaging cameras to the helmet and then use computer vision to take in thermal images and display them on the screen in front of the firefighters.

These goggles, which are being described as a “game-changer” by members of the Menlo Park fire department, were made by a San Francisco-based start-up called Qwake Technologies. The interim CEO of Qwake Technologies, Austin James, went in-person to the Menlo Park Fire Department to watch as the firefighters tested out his company’s technology, called C-Thru, which he hopes can go on to save hundreds of lives and make the job of firefighting even just a little bit easier.