Article
Author: Sebastian A. Zielinski, CEO at AppsBow
The new generation of employees
There are never enough hands to work in large industrial plants and factories. Especially when it comes to entities in which personnel of specific capabilities is required. Nowadays the common problem there is that experienced staff is inevitably approaching their retirement, and people with the appropriate competencies to replace them are scarce. This situation is mainly caused by two factors: the problem with the availability of qualified staff on the market and the lack of an appropriate tool to transfer knowledge to younger employees, who are as a rule recruited from the new generation, which has not had a chance to acquire sufficient engineering experience.
The new generation of employees brought up on modern IT technologies, universal access to information on the Internet, and numerous other facilities, require new tools in the field of training and preparation for work. Thick volumes of technical documentation, books, videos, or even e-learning platforms, which are just a novel way to distribute the traditional content using a digital screen, are often insufficient. Fortunately, new but established technologies offer the employee a much better way to train.
Learning through play
So, what new technologies are we talking about? Each of us is familiar with the concept of “learning through play” and probably most of us have also experienced the positive effects of this method of acquiring knowledge. AppsBow decided to apply virtual reality (VR) / computer games to create interactive training for industrial operators. We know from our experience that for some companies it may be a peculiar or even a shocking idea to let employees play games instead of forcing them to learn through proven, traditional methods used for decades. However, we must constantly bear in mind that the present times are characterized by numerous and radical changes, also affecting people, and all this is due to, inter alia, the popularization of information technologies. Failure to notice this fact in time may leave any company behind the competition.
What's the best way
The use of training in the form of games requires the creation of an environment operated as a computer game, which represents the real work environment with immersive photo-realistic graphics. It must also allow interaction with the virtual world: moving around freely and performing any procedures exactly as in the real world.
Thanks to the use of virtual reality, employees of industrial companies not only can practice everyday procedures but also have the opportunity to prepare for rare tasks, such as starting or stopping a machine or even a whole plant. They can also train emergency situations that are impossible to simulate in the real world. In addition, immersive virtual reality allows reproducing all visual and sound aspects of a given hazard. This makes virtual training even more credible and allows you to actually feel the stress associated with a dangerous event and properly prepare for such a stimulus.
Training in VR gives a lot of freedom. But it doesn’t stop there. Based on the vReact system created by AppsBow for training industrial operators in virtual reality, we can show further advantages of this type of training over traditional ones. Namely, vReact allows full insight into the statistics of trainees: the number completed and failed trainings, the number of mistakes made, time spent on training or the learning curve, and even allows estimating the risk of making a mistake in the future!
Unlimited training in VR
Training in vReact is not limited by the physical availability of the teacher, because its virtual version is built into the application and guides the student at every step of acquiring knowledge. Thanks to the use of a staged learning system, each trainee begins with the introductory stage, in which, in addition to a designated list of tasks and hints, where individual activities are to be performed, they also receive support through the teacher’s explanation of individual actions and the meaning of the entire procedure. The next stage of the training indicates only a list of tasks to be performed, without indicating the location where individual activities should take place. The final stage is the exam, where the trainee must completely rely on himself and the acquired knowledge.
First stage - with task list and markers
Second stage - with only task list
Exam mode - no hints or help for the user
Track the progress
This approach to training employees in VR, unlimited in time or by space, allows current and future operators of machinery or plants to acquire well-established knowledge and repeat each training, each possible scenario, as many times as required by a given person. Statistics obtained from the vReact reports system allow for the verification of each person’s skills by HR departments, managers, or trainers, as well as for certification.
Of course, virtual reality training cannot completely replace traditional field training or book-based knowledge. However, they are excellent support enabling quick acquisition of knowledge through play and effectively building a team of employees best prepared for work. Safety, i.e. the life and health of the crew, the continuity of production, and the environment, has no price.
To learn more about VR training, visit vReact.