Soteria

A connected fireground system for real-time awareness and command.

Timeline
Sep 8 - Nov 13
Domain
Safety-Critical UX · AR & Command Systems
Role
Project Lead · UX Design
Focus
User Research · Information Architecture · Interaction Design

Soteria connects firefighters in the field with incident commanders through an AR interface and command tablet designed for high-pressure, low-visibility environments.

Soteria firefighter AR mask and connected command tablet

Red Dot Winner · 2026

Quick read

Challenge

Firefighters make critical decisions with limited visibility, fragmented communication, and seconds to react.

Approach

Connect the field and command into one shared information loop.

We designed two coordinated interfaces: a minimal AR view for firefighters and a command tablet for incident commanders.

Outcome

A safety-critical UX system grounded in direct firefighter research.

Soteria translated 500+ raw research data points into a connected field-and-command experience designed to make critical information easier to recognize and act on.

The environment

What do you see when almost nothing is visible?

Firefighters operate in environments where vision, hearing, movement, and decision-making can all degrade at once. The interface cannot assume a calm user, a quiet room, or time to search.

Smoke
Low visibility
Noise
Radio overlap
Heat
Physical stress

63K+Firefighters injured in 2023

Sight and sound were only symptoms.

The real problem was cognitive overload.

In an emergency, more information is not automatically better. Firefighters need to recognize what matters without searching, interpreting, or breaking focus.

Field research

Designing for the fireground meant learning from firefighters first.

We met firefighters in Savannah to understand how information, communication, equipment, and command actually work under operational pressure.

500+Raw research data points

From insights to principles

Under pressure, information has to earn attention.

  1. 01

    Glanceable

    Recognize urgency before reading.
    • color coding
    • short, action-focused copy
    • clear severity differences

  2. 02

    Essential

    Show only what changes the next decision.
    • fewer dense numerical readouts
    • simplified visual indicators
    • essential vital monitoring

  3. 03

    Controllable

    Surface advanced information only when needed.
    • toggleable thermal overlays
    • on-demand enhanced views
    • immediate toxic-gas feedback

System architecture

Two roles. One shared operational loop.

Soteria was designed as a feedback loop rather than two isolated products. Firefighters contribute live field context while commanders translate that shared picture into guidance, priorities, and support.

Shared awareness

  1. Firefightersees · senses · acts
  2. Field datalocation · vitals · hazards · status
  3. Commanderunderstands · prioritizes · coordinates
  4. Guidanceroutes · alerts · commands · support
  5. Firefightersees · senses · acts

Guidance returns to the firefighter

The wearable layer

The mask carries the firefighter-facing AR experience.

The Soteria mask carries the firefighter-facing AR experience within protective equipment, keeping critical information in the field of view.

Firefighter experience / AR

In the mask, less information meant faster recognition.

The AR interface prioritizes persistent self-status, orientation, and critical hazards while keeping advanced views available only when needed.

Persistent essentials.
Contextual capability.

01 Oxygen / Self Status

Always visible

Self
Oxygen level · Equipment / battery status
Orientation
Compass · Distance · Team position / team status
Critical
Environmental sensors · Alert notifications

On demand

Vision
Normal vision · Thermal vision · AR overlay
Navigation
Active route · Distance to exit / stairs / target · Route status · Evacuation alert
Victim detection
Automatic heat detection · Manual tagging · Identity / location tagging · Sync with command
Team coordination
Team position · Member vital status · Signal indicator · Ping location · Request backup · Confirm rescue
Thermal offThermal on

Command experience / tablet

Command needed the opposite: more context, without more chaos.

While firefighters needed less information in the field, commanders needed a broader operational picture. The challenge was organizing that depth without forcing them to hunt across disconnected tools.

Home / mission overview

See the mission before managing it.

Mission timing & crew
mission timer · active crew overview
Route & conditions
map / route · weather · environmental context
Unit readiness
company / apparatus status · crew status
Equipment
firefighter information · mask settings

On scene

One view for where the team is, what they see, and who needs help.

  1. 01

    Spatial awareness

    Real-time firefighter positions, routes, hazards, safe zones, and map modes

  2. 02

    Firefighter POV

    See what field teams are seeing

  3. 03

    Vital status

    Recognize physiological risk before it escalates

  4. 04

    AI task trajectory

    Prototype concept for prioritized operational suggestions based on incoming data

  5. 05

    Command channel

    Coordinate action and maintain communication in one operational context

Every feature had to earn its place.

Show everything
slower decisions
Automate everything
lower trust
Alert everything
alarm fatigue

Overview first. Details on demand.

The system was designed around progressive information depth: immediate status first, contextual detail second, and advanced controls only when the situation required them.

AR

Persistent essentials→ optional enhanced views

Command

Mission overview→ unit / firefighter detail
→ deeper operational controls

Testing

The first hierarchy still asked users to think too much.

The rugged tablet navigation focused on Home, On-Site, Incident Reporting, and Settings.

01 Testing insight

Task
As the incident commander, locate Allen’s profile or unit settings and turn ON thermal view for his AR mask.
Observed issue
Hierarchy confusion
Design implication
Actions should live where commanders already think about the person or unit, rather than forcing them to infer the system hierarchy.

02 Testing insight

Task
Check the current status of Engine 3.
Observed issue
Terminology confusion
Takeaway
Operational labels must match the language firefighters and commanders already use.

Iteration

Turning findings into clearer decisions.

  1. 01 Command hierarchy

    Controls were moved closer to the firefighter and unit context where commanders expected to find them.

  2. 02 Mission overview

    Critical status and spatial information were surfaced before deeper controls, making the mission easier to scan at a glance.

  3. 03 Operational language

    Ambiguous system labels were replaced with terminology that better reflects fireground command workflows.

  4. 04 AR information hierarchy

    Persistent AR content was reduced to essential information, while contextual guidance appears only when it becomes relevant.

Final mission experience

One mission. Two views of the same reality.

AR

Command tablet

  1. 01

    The firefighter enters the scene.

    ARself-status · navigation · environment · team awareness

  2. 02

    Command builds the shared picture.

    Commandmap · firefighter location · POV · vital status · environmental context

  3. 03

    Risk surfaces.

    AR + Commandcritical warning / hazard cue · firefighter status becomes urgent

  4. 04

    Command responds.

    Commandadjusts priority · sends guidance · requests support · coordinates route / backup

  5. 05

    The firefighter receives only what matters next.

    ARclear action-focused guidance without opening a complex interface

  1. Field dataShared awarenessCommand decision
  2. GuidanceField action

Outcome & reflection

Better decisions start with better information boundaries.

Soteria brought the firefighter and commander experiences into one connected system, using role-based information hierarchy to balance speed, awareness, and operational depth.

What I learned designing for two sides of the same emergency

Soteria changed how I think about complex interfaces. In safety-critical environments, the challenge isn’t giving people access to more information - it’s deciding who needs what, when, and in what form.

Leading the project taught me to design across roles rather than screens: minimizing cognitive load for firefighters while giving commanders enough context to coordinate the larger system. That balance between simplicity and situational depth has become central to how I approach complex UX problems.