Dimension X Cohort 6 spotlight: Boosting frontline operations with edge AI

In a high-stakes emergency, first responders must react swiftly and decisively to situations that can escalate at a hair’s trigger. The sense of urgency can, at times, be overwhelming.

A 2018 study published in PubMed Central demonstrated a correlation between stress and cognitive performance in firefighters, underscoring the need for interventions to prevent wrong decisions under pressure.

This is an issue that hits close to home for Peter Padd, whose partner is a public healthcare doctor. “She was on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic, so I know how stressful their jobs can be. We’re always thinking about what we can do to improve the safety and performance of first responders,” shared the co-founder of Fortifyedge, whose Australia AI-driven security start-up was among 10 selected companies that successfully completed Dimension X under Cohort 6.

Dimension X, the flagship open innovation programme by Hatch, HTX’s innovation centre, tackles challenges faced by Singapore’s Home Team. One challenge that Fortifyedge is helping to tackle is the lack of precise data insights from training sessions that can ultimately help improve the safety and performance of officers in the field.

“Recreating realistic training scenarios takes time and money, and trainers’ feedback is often verbal and quickly lost,” said Derek Chong, Lead Engineer (Modelling and Simulation), Human Factors & Simulation (HFS) Centre of Expertise (CoE).

To bridge this gap, Fortifyedge leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transform officers’ training through virtual trainers, adaptive training systems and lifelike AI avatars that role-play under different teams.

Over four months, his team worked with Peter’s to co-develop and validate a proof-of-concept with Home Team end-users who utilised Fortifyedge’s AI platform during simulated Mixed Reality training sessions.

The result was an AI platform that can be hosted on a smart watch embedded with sensors that capture physiological and behavioural data from officers. These sensors track key metrics such as heart rate, skin temperature, stress level and fatigue.

Edge technologies move computational burdens from the cloud to devices. The edge AI used in Fortifyedge’s platform processes data directly on the device – without relying on cloud connectivity – to deliver instant, adaptive feedback. What this means is that trainers can dynamically adjust the intensity of the training in real time based on the data of the trainees. The platform also generates objective insights that allow trainers to pinpoint areas for improvement.

The result: officers are better prepared for high-stakes situations such as firefighting or tactical operations.

For additional analysis, officers also wear a separate Mixed Reality headset (not developed with Fortifyedge) equipped with sensors that track their gaze. This visual data is securely sent to Fortifyedge’s AI platform in the private cloud, where it appears on a dashboard for further evaluation.

“Most models are rudimentary and generic. We go further by using advanced research into human physiology – such as pupillometry (the measurement of pupil size to gauge cognitive and visual processing) and kinetic data (information about how a person moves) – and AI to personalise insights for individuals, accounting for their unique physiology and experience level,” explained Peter.

Putting first responders front and centre

Working with HTX has enabled the start-up to rapidly iterate and refine its AI models with the support of frontline officers, to create a successful proof-of-concept tailored to their needs. Besides benefitting from direct feedback on usability and performance, the team was also supported by experts from the HFS CoE, who helped design experiments, create realistic training scenarios and combine real data from officers in the field.

“They were willing to experiment with us till it broke – that’s how you get breakthroughs that are going to save lives,” said Peter.

Multiple use cases

Demo Day caps his team’s rewarding journey with HTX, whereby they pitched their solution alongside other global start-ups in fields such as robotics and forensics. All selected participants received S$100,000 to develop their proofs-of-concept during the four-month-long programme, with the end goal of testing their solutions in actual operational environments in Singapore to shape the future of public safety.

In the coming months, they plan to further enhance their platform by upgrading sensor fidelity, expanding adaptive learning capabilities and integrating recommendation engines that support both trainees and instructors within the Home Team. HTX and Fortifyedge are also exploring the development of a specialised Large Language Model (LLM) trained on physiological and behavioural data from frontline officers.

Derek foresees that the impact of their collaboration will extend beyond training, towards a future where AI enhances real-time decision-making.

“We envision that the technology can be used not just in human officers, but also in humanoids, robotic cops and drones, where AI can provide real-time insights and even suggest new tactics to counter emerging threats,” he said.

Future plans include validating the models against live training data from the Home Team’s tactical firearms training facilities, ensuring that AI-driven insights remain closely aligned with authentic operational performance. 

Ultimately, both teams share a vision of a seamlessly connected, data-driven frontline where technology augments human judgment rather than replacing it.

“In today’s dynamic geopolitical climate, threats are fast-emerging, so every second counts for tactical officers – they need to train and react fast in real time," concluded Derek.

Check out what other innovations were showcased here: