Citizen-centered disaster preparedness

20 Dezember 2023

HORIZON EUROPE PROJECT B-PREPARED OFFERS A GROUNDBREAKING APPROACH TO DISASTER PREPAREDNESS FOR CITIZENS

In the wake of recent catastrophic events such as the 2021 floods in Germany, B-PREPARED emerges as a beacon of hope in the quest to reduce the devastating impact of disasters. Recognizing the critical gap between alert systems and citizen response, B-PREPARED offers an innovative and cost-effective solution aimed at empowering individuals to effectively navigate emergencies and ensure collective safety.

The lessons learned from past tragedies highlight the vital need to equip citizens with the knowledge and tools to act swiftly during disasters. B-PREPARED's approach hinges on fostering a culture of preparedness through a comprehensive multi-actor strategy, rooted in immersive historical scenarios.

At its core, B-PREPARED creates a collaborative co-creation platform to build and share knowledge about disasters and means to survive them. This invaluable resource serves as the foundation for three demonstrator applications, delivering the content for citizens:

• Cooperative Multiplayer VR Serious Game: Providing a remarkably realistic simulation of disaster scenarios, this game delivers a unique near-real experience, emphasising teamwork, collaboration and effective communication as indispensable facets of surviva
• Interactive Gamified Mobile App: Tailored with age-appropriate content and enhanced features for diverse needs, this app ensures widespread accessibility It aims to engage users across demographics, fostering a culture of preparedness on a broad scale.
• Learning Management System: An effective tool for measuring and comparing preparedness levels achieved by users engaging with the VR and/or mobile applications. This system offers a unified scale for assessment, enabling users to track their progress.

B-PREPARED aims to encourage users to assume various roles, solving puzzles and navigating through immersive experiences to enhance preparedness. All user behaviour within the applications will be meticulously logged in a privacy-preserving manner, not only facilitating preparedness assessment, but also contributing valuable data for synergic research in the field.

To showcase its features, B-PREPARED will launch a large-scale virtual reality hackathon series, offering a glimpse into the transformative potential of its platform. The open beta phase, available as a giveaway, will invite stakeholders to experience the platform first-hand through direct outreach initiatives.

Following the beta phase, B-PREPARED will transition to a non-profit freemium model, where in-game purchases will be replaced by in-game donations for relief organisations. A small percentage of these contributions will be allocated for maintenance and further development.

B-PREPARED brings together a pan-European multi-disciplinary team of experts from 11 different countries who will work collaboratively to meet project expectations over the course of 36 months. The project is led by the Institute for Computer Science and Control, HUN-REN SZTAKI, Hungary's leading lT institution, that specialises in bridging the gap between academic research and industry needs.

B-PREPARED stands as a testament to innovation and collaboration, striving to re-define disaster preparedness and build safer and more resilient communities worldwide for future challenges.

For media inquiries and further information, please contact Székely Family & Co.  or visit the project website: https://b-prepared-project.com/

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553475537376

X: https://twitter.com/BPREPARED_EU

Linkedln: https://www.linkedin.com/company/b-prepared-horizon-europe-project/?viewAsMember=true

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^{Grant Agreement No. 1011211134}