Advanced VR

Virtual reality is no longer solely used for gaming. While it was once predominantly utilized as an entertainment device, it is now possible to undergo comprehensive VR training. This is particularly useful for training that is time-consuming and costly in real life

A company from Twente Serious VR develops these VR trainings. They specialize in creating serious VR games; games that are made for training/practice, rather than purely for entertainment. A virtual training has several advantages over a physical one. Here are some benefits of VR training:

• It requires less physical space than a real-life training. For a VR training, all you need is a VR headset and potentially a computer and screen
• Hardware that is used can all be recreated in the virtual world (think of a button someone has to press, or a lever they need to pull)
• A VR training can be completed faster than a physical training. There's no need to prepare the space or the user. You simply put on the VR headset and get started
• The participant trains in a different way than they are used to. As a result, the "new" information they acquire is better retained
  It's a more efficient way of training. If you have multiple participants, it's easy to switch users
  

In short, a VR training has many advantages over a real training. However, it's important to note that a VR training is not a replacement for a real training. It's always an addition - although there are many trainings currently being developed that could replace real trainings. A good example of this is training to pilot an airplane, like with the mixed reality training from Varjo.

As a novice pilot, there are a multitude of reasons why you wouldn't want to step into a flying plane straight away. When you perform your first training with a VR headset in virtual reality, you at least get familiar with the cockpit and all the buttons. This is the first step of pilot training. Once the user is familiar with the virtual cockpit, they can then step into the real cockpit

Operational training on machines can begin long before a machine is put into production, simply by training in Virtual Reality. This is especially useful when industrial companies are opening new production sites abroad. Maximizing production capacity and minimizing failure costs is another incentive to train operators in virtual reality. They are ready to work effectively on machines before they start working with real machines. This way of training allows training processes to be standardized based on the best cases from your operators worldwide. Training costs are drastically reduced

Incidents often occur within production processes. Diagnosing and restoring the production process can be a daunting task. By capturing the expertise and best cases from senior operators, a master-apprentice training system can be set up to train on the most common operational incidents. This type of training results in a clearly shorter path to mastery and a significant step forward in machine uptime and maximization of production capacity

Machine manufacturers often deal with service and maintenance issues worldwide. Service technicians have to travel long distances while local service technicians are available. However, these on-site engineers do not have the required expertise to perform maintenance work. By using Virtual Reality training, local maintenance crews can be trained and deployed for specific maintenance and service work, without the need for an expert service technician. During training in Virtual Reality, the chance of damaging expensive tools and objects on site is minimized. This makes maintenance training in Virtual Reality a cost-effective and efficient solution

Apollo Tyres is a multinational with offices and production sites in countries around the world, such as India, South Africa, and the Netherlands. One of their KPIs in production optimization is designing best cases for production processes and implementing them at all locations worldwide. Serious VR has helped Apollo Vredestein develop a VR training for a mold change machine. With this VR training, operators are trained more efficiently in practicing complex actions before they start working on the real machine. This way, operators can change molds faster and spend less training time in the factory. This results in lower machine downtime for all factories

Click here to read more about Apollo Vredestein's training

Diversey is a supplier of cleaning and hygiene products and serves customers in a wide range of sectors. It integrates chemicals, floor care machines, tools and equipment, with a wide range of technology-based value-added services, food safety services, and water and energy management. Diversey operates worldwide and has 11,000 employees

For one of Diversey's bottling lines, Serious VR researched and developed a VR training where bottles need to be filled, checked, and labeled. One mistake can have huge negative effects on the customer's cleaning process. This can lead to high costs, which Diversey wants to avoid. Therefore, this virtual training approach was developed and implemented

Click here to read more about Diversey's training.