Mine Games Virtual-Reality Training Program Designed To Save Lives Of Underground Miners

You’re walking through an underground mine, your way lit by the single beam from the lamp on your hard hat.

In this game of virtual reality, your mission is simple: Return to the surface alive.

A multitude of dangers lurk in the mine.

Carbon monoxide poisoning is a silent killer. Death from electrocution or falling rocks is more grizzly. Act carelessly, and your virtual body parts could be flashing across the screen.

Marc Filigenzi and Tim Orr’s creation isn’t the latest violent video game. It’s training for underground miners, who have one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States. Filigenzi and Orr are mechanical engineers who work at the Spokane Research Laboratory, which is part of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

The two engineers spent a year creating the virtual reality training, building on earlier work done by colleague Todd Ruff. They wanted to give miners a life-like feel for the hazards in a mine, from the safe vantage point of sitting behind a computer.

Mining has the highest fatal accident rate of any profession in the U.S. The rate was 30.3 deaths per 100,000 workers, according to federal statistics.

Miners must complete 40 hours of safety training before they can work underground. Federal regulations also require miners to take eight additional hours of training each year.

But a lot of the training is video tapes and classroom discussion. Filigenzi and Orr wanted something more engaging - something that would immediately reward or censure miners for the choices they make.

It’s no coincidence that the engineers’ work resembles a fantasy video game. It uses customized content they developed for a game engine, which provides the lighting and other special effects.

“We recognized that some video games had the look and feel of walking a mine tunnel,” Orr said. “Part of the game is learning the maze.”

The virtual training is based on maps of the Greens Creek Mine in Alaska. It can be customized for other mines.

The program starts in the safety equipment room, where game characters pick up their gear. Failure to wear a hard hat or take a self-rescuer - which allows miners to breathe while in pockets of bad air - can have immediate consequences.

When the character arrives at an underground work area, he or she receives a message that a mine emergency has occurred. The character’s task is to exit the mine safely.

Up to 20 people can play at a time. Game characters can be given recognizable features - so players interact with their co-workers.

The game can also be set up for training mine rescue teams.

“Just imagine trying to go into a mine that had been on fire,” said Larry Grayson, chairman of the Mining Engineering Department at University of Missouri at Rolla. “Professionals in the industry have to go about solving some fairly com plex problems.”

Rescuers could encounter flames, smoke that obscures their vision, an unstable roof or walls.

Setting up a mock emergency with those conditions costs thousands of dollars, Grayson said. Virtual reality training costs just a fraction of that.

“You could set up the whole thing for $1,000,” including the purchase of a personal computer, Filigenzi said.

If you already have the computer, the only significant cost is a graphic game card, Orr said. The next version may be geared toward running on a PlayStation, he said.

Filigenzi and Orr gave out 100 samples of the virtual training to officials at a mining conference in Spokane this month. It’s getting good reviews.

“It’s very realistic … You can watch an accident happen in 3-D,” Grayson said. “It’s much better than a paper pencil exercise.”