'Guardian Angel' AI System Could Save The Lives Of Firefighters

A "guardian angel" artificial intelligence helper called Audrey could help firefighters to make split-second life-or-death decisions.

The NASA-designed agent collects data on temperatures, gases and other vital signals - then crunches the stats to guide firefighters when they are tackling a blaze.

Mark James, from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said: "Because of all this data the sensor sees, firefighters won't run into the next room where the floor will collapse."

The system uses sensors mounted on the firefighters' clothes - monitoring their GPS position, the heat level in surrounding areas, and whether any dangerous gases or chemicals are around.

Audrey stands for Assistant for Understanding Data through Reasoning, Extraction, and sYnthesis.

It is backed by the US Department of Homeland Security, and could also be used by police officers and other first responders.

It has been in development for nine months and will be tested in the field next year.

Programme manager Edward Chow said: "When first responders are connected to all these sensors, the Audrey agent becomes their guardian angel.

"As a firefighter moves through an environment, Audrey could send alerts through a mobile device or head-mounted display."

He added: "We use complex reasoning to simulate how humans think.

"That allows us to provide more useful information to firefighters than a traditional AI system."