VIRTHUALIS Solutions:

The current training approach:

Training is a well established activity in the workplace and there are many prescriptive models of the training process, outlining critical steps, the order in which they should be taken, etc. In practice, few trainers strictly adhere to a formal process because the training programme will be more effective if it is tailored to a specific situation. Often, both training design and delivery is carried out on an ad hoc basis. The current design and delivery of training methodology typically follows a process of establishing training needs, the target group, the training objectives, training content, training format, training assessment and training evaluation. Trainers are known to involve both operators and line managers to build a picture of the skills, knowledge and attributes required to successfully perform a task. Unfortunately, this is frequently the limit of their frame of reference. However, VR can assist with linking data and resources from each of the other safety actions, providing a much richer base from which to build an effective training programme. VR applications are currently mainly used in training to improve procedural skill acquisition by performing tasks in virtual environments.

How VR could improve the training process

There are a number of ways in which VR can enhance the training process:

VR provides an opportunity for integrated learning where procedural, theoretical, human factors and practical objectives can be built into the same lesson.
Virtual Environments (VEs) can provide an interactive educational context, supporting experiential learning and providing a medium through which it is possible to “learn by doing”, as a result of first-person experience. The VR learning environment is active and people learn much better when they are active participants rather than passive recipients of information.
VR training can be tailored to the learner’s characteristics and needs (different trainees are characterised by different learning rates and styles). Well designed VEs can flexibly present trainees with a broader set of experiences than those which can be found in the “standard” training environment.
A variety of learning techniques can be used – “free play” exploration of the VE, “video” mode where a trainee watches a task or process, “guided mode” where trainees are prompted throughout a task. These modes are carried out with varying degrees of guidance and feedback, thus, it frees up operational staff from many trainee- supervision duties.
VR enables exposure of trainees to critical scenarios in which a rapid response is needed (e.g. emergency). This is not possible in on-the-job training or realistically simulated in paper-based scenarios or role-plays. Successful completion of training is also more likely to produce personnel who take much less time to “get up to speed” in the field.
VR provides a high intensity of interaction and feedback, facilitating ‘just-in-time training’ for tasks which are rarely carried out and offering an opportunity to make errors, learn from mistakes and encounter human factors challenges safely and without fear of causing risk to anyone.. Errors can be allowed to occur and reach their conclusion so that participants can see the results of their decisions and actions.
One of the primary groups who can benefit from VR based training are those who may have problems with existing training programmes due to limitations of language or to cultural difference, e.g. highly-mobile, uneducated, and non mother-tongue contractors coming in to do a particular job without familiarity with the plant or the procedures.
VR training can improve team competency in health and safety aspects of their work, transmitting to operators a clear perception of the risks and of the necessity to carefully follow the procedures (Safety Awareness Training).
VR training can enhance social/interpersonal skills (communication, leadership, team building, decision-making…) as well as inter-team communication The possibility of enhanced team-based training- team performance could be particularly useful for tasks that require a high level of communication and team co-ordination over a dispersed area, or to improve team communication during critical incidents.
VR itself offers great potential as a tool for evaluation, since every session in the virtual environment can be easily monitored and recorded by trainers, thus facilitating reliable and systematic competence assessment – task timing and all performance data can be analysed and passed on to risk assessors and safety managers for further evaluation of system safety.