The 2018 wildfire season was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire season on record in California, and it included the blaze that destroyed the town of Paradise in Northern California, which became the single deadliest wildfire in the state’s modern history.

In situations like those, firefighters need all of the situational intelligence they can get, and sometimes the flames may be too intense to send personnel out to look for survivors or survey a scene.

However, emerging technologies like augmented reality — in which digital information is overlaid onto a view of the real world via a headset, glasses or smartphone — can help first responders improve their situational awareness and their safety.

Two companies, Epson and DJI Enterprise, are demonstrating how AR can help firefighters. The firms partnered late last year with the Menlo Park fire department in California to test their technologies. Using DJI drones and Epson Moverio AR smart glasses, the firefighters conducted an experiment to get a bird’s eye view of a fire scene beamed into the glasses.