Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVEs) refer to shared virtual environments used for collaboration and interaction of many participants that may be spread over large distances. People have introduced CVEs in the field of education, training and assessment for emergency management . However, there are some significant drawbacks in existing CVEs for emergency management: 1. Most training scenarios lack in realism – they are far from the real world; 2. Integration between spatial information and Collaborative Virtual Environments needs improving; 3. Building a training scenario is time consuming. Thus, a new method that can integrate GIS functions into a CVE is urgently needed, and in such a system an automatic scenario build-up method is also desirable.

Our current research is based on the Spatial Information Exploration and Visualization Environment (SIEVE), which allows users to explore existing spatial data and hypothetical future scenarios in a real-time 3D environment. We are extending the functionality of SIEVE to enable collection of attribute data through ArcGIS Server using data mashup technology. Then data are transferred into SIEVE and visualized in real-time. These data include weather conditions or real-time traffic, which, when effectively visualized, enhance the realism of emergency training. Such data are very important for decision makers and data presented in a real-time 3D environment may provide more realistic scenarios and improve the effect of training. The real-time data presentation capacity may also be of benefit to both command-and-control and on-site personnel in real emergency situations by providing a realistic experience of on-ground conditions.