Setting the scene for new disaster management
Global internet outage, a virus outbreak and global warming are just some of the hypothetical disaster scenarios set to be created by an unusual collaboration between researchers at the University of Southampton and newly-appointed Leverhulme artists-in-residence.
The ORCHID programme, based in Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) at the University, investigates how human and software agents can effectively work together to collect the best possible information from a disaster environment. The team have been exploring the use of unmanned autonomous systems (UAS) fitted with audio-visual equipment that can improve the response of emergency services and populations to disaster management.