Etiqueta: Simulation

Impact and ROI of VR/AR in Training II

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández1 Comentario

You asked the questions, and here are the answers.

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Our Training Committee held a very successful webinar on “The Impact and ROI of VR/AR in Training” on 16th January 2019.

You can watch the Webinar recording here

You can also watch the solution demos here

It proved a popular event, with over 300 people registering to watch four enlightening presentations on very different Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality training applications. During the lively question-and-answer session it became clear that the number of great questions was larger than the time available to answer them all! This post allows the presenters to respond the questions that couldn’t be answered during the webinar.

Presenter 1 : David Trainor, Sentireal

Presentation Theme

David presented the “AppUccino” software, which delivers AR experiences for special-needs trainees to learn how to be a barista and work successfully in a commercial coffee shop. AppUccino directs trainees through the process of making americano, espresso, latte and cappuccino drinks. It generates AR overlays on the physical coffee-making equipment, including the industrial coffee machine itself, the separate coffee bean grinder and the separate water heater. A short video of part of the AppUccino AR experience can be seen here. Trainee performance measurements are taken as they prepare the drink using AppUccino and these measurements are uploaded to a cloud application, which analyzes them and presents training progress information to authorized training managers. An initial pilot with AppUccino indicated that trainees retained twice the amount of information and developed their skills 50% faster using AppUccino.

Webinar Questions for David Trainor

You said it took ~9 months of definition and dev, how many people were working on your team in which roles in order to accomplish this?

We used one media/content creator and one software developer. The work was carried out over the course of 9 months, but neither the content creation nor the software development role was full-time.

How were the analyses done? Observation? Performance against criteria on task?

The analyses were done based on (i) time taken for the trainee to perform certain tasks (ii) measurements of how accurately the trainee performed certain tasks and (iii) estimates of where the trainee’s attention and focus was at specific points in the procedure.

How many users has Appuccino had? What has been the impact? In how many months after development did you achieve that impact?

We’ve just completed an initial evaluation/pilot involving 15-20 trainees within a coffee shop managed by a partner training organization. At some point in February 2019 we intend to expand this to all barista trainees within that training organization.

How long did it take to create AR content for training?

The 3D models for the AR overlays were completed in approximately 1 week. The media is actually quite simple. Strong, simple content proved to be the best way to present the required information to special needs trainees who are affected by autism, Downs Syndrome or general learning difficulties. However we needed to spend much more time – about 4 months – on the instructional design and the directions, animations and transitions within the AR scenarios.

How did you already go about gathering data on ROI prior to the development (and also launch) of the app?

The data was gathered from a pilot study at one location. This was after the app was developed but before it was publicly released.

Very exciting project! Curious why you selected that small, unique demographic to start? Unique requirements? Expect to scale up to other populations?

We picked barista training as it’s an area where there is expected to be a lack of qualified employees in the future. In the UK, where I’m from, it is estimated that there is a shortfall of 40000 trained baristas. We selected special-needs barista trainees because there is a high degree of underemployment in that group and if we can create a good intuitive solution for special-needs trainees then it should scale up well to other groups and other types of catering or hospitality training applications.

Are these analytics published somewhere?

Not yet – the small pilot study that we’ve carried out gave us some indications on the training improvements and return on investment from AppUccino but we’re starting a larger evaluation in February 2019, when more trainees start to use the app at our partner training organization. We plan to publish the detailed outputs from this larger study.

Presenter 2 : Jeff Meador, Portico

Presentation Theme

Jeff presented Portico’s Diversity and Inclusion VR Seminar, which provides learners the opportunity to practice and master their skills with inclusive language. This program was designed to complement traditional classroom learning by preparing learners with practical applications of the skills discussed during classroom sessions. With Portico’s software, learners speak directly to AI-powered digital avatars and engage in simulated conversations that put their skills to test. Learners also get real-time feedback on their performance through a virtual trainer, who uses AI to guide users towards better language choices.

Webinar Questions for Jeff Meador

How did you factor in orientation to the VR experience to overcome novelty or unfamiliarity with the technology to get straight to the experience?
We didn’t want to rely on the learner having any previous experience with VR. We give users time to look around and explore prior to beginning the scenario. This gives them a chance to understand the parameters and boundaries of the exercise. We also engage in some light chit-chat (“how’s the weather” sort of stuff) to let the learner know that they are expected to talk and that the AI is listening and will respond.

Do you need a quiet room?

A quiet room certainly helps. Current speech-to-text technology is very strong, but having a quiet place for the training is very helpful. It also helps the learner concentrate on the task at hand.

Is Portico looking at including body language (proximity to client gestures, etc.)?

Yes; we’ve done some preliminary work with this and have set some behaviors that change based on the learner’s position and/ or focal point during the training.

How is the real time interaction happening? is it a sort of multiplayer training and a mentor is interacting with you? or the AI is giving you feedback?

Everything within our scenarios is driven by AI, including the feedback. Our goal is to have these role playing experiences run without the need for actors or facilitators.

Presenter 3 : Marlo Brooke, AVATAR Partners

Marlo presented a Mixed Reality Training System for aircraft and aircraft subsystem maintenance. Primarily an Augmented Reality / Mixed Reality solution, this high-fidelity, industrial-grade maintenance training system scales from a tabletop model design, to a full-sized aircraft, allowing the maintainer to train on the job, hands free, at the point of need, without any jitter or drift. The system utilizes object tracking (as opposed to stickers or markers) to ensure highly accurate lock on target, even as the user moves around the aircraft. It also  integrates to any backend system to both retrieve and record/send information about the maintenance task. It supports collaborative tasks and remote assistance.

Webinar Questions for Marlo Brooke

How did you come up with your pricing for your offerings?

Pricing is based on the specific requirement of the customer. AVATAR Partners can develop the application in its entirety, and/or the customer can purchase SimplifyXR to build/extend all or some of the functionality. Furthermore, because we use open source products such as Unity, the customer does not need to purchase SimplifyXR to extend any AVATAR Partners built XR solutions.

Is SimplifyXR proprietary to you or is it 3rd party?

SimplifyXR is is developed by AVATAR Partners using open source development tools, and can integrate to any backend system through APIs. It is licensed and sold through AVATAR Partners and its certified resellers. SimplifyXR is not required to extend any AVATAR Partner XR applications.

Could you please clarify how 97% reduction was calculated? Does it mean that instead of 100 hours of training without glasses only 3 hours with glasses are required?

You are correct. The training task was calculated based on the current training method for that particular wire failure, which involved an experienced maintainer gathering information from 3 different source materials (ETM, Wire Illuminator, and 2D schematics) to trace and identify the wire failure. The current training method is documented as taking 4 hours on average. The AR training experience is 7 minutes in duration, which is a 97% reduction in time to train.

Marlo, you said you have offices around the country.  I didn’t hear if Portico has the same, but do either of your companies look to establish satellite offices in more remote locations? If so, what type of environments do you look for? Developed workforce, local colleges, etc?

AVATAR Partners has regional offices in Huntington Beach CA, Arlington (Crystal City) VA, Virginia Beach VA, and Patuxent River MD, with personnel working in 8 different states within the USA. AVATAR has teaming partners with offices in Atlanta GA, Orlando FL, San DIego CA, Dayton OH, and Fort Worth, TX. We are expanding based on a variety of factors including the locations of teaming partners, certified resellers, and universities both within the USA and Allied Nations.

Marlo, how did you measure those analytics?

The performance metrics were derived from test results by AVATAR Partners based on the comparison of the current methodology versus the use of XR. These tests included accuracy,  time to train, and time to complete the task. Cost savings were derived based on an assumed reduction of errors based on increased accuracy, and will vary depending on the application and cost of parts. We also discussed other studies such as the Boeing/Iowa State Study on wing assembly (Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) 2014).

I’m not familiar with SimplifyXR — can you describe what that is and whether that is proprietary to AVATAR?

SimplifyXR is a software product developed by AVATAR Partners that allows non-programmers to develop their own Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality, and Virtual Reality experiences. It also speeds development time by tenfold by using a user-friendly interface. The product also evaluates the user’s desired XR application and notifies the user whether or not the application is well suited for XR, or if a different training media (e.g. video training) would be more effective. SimplifyXR is owned and licensed by AVATAR Partners, and is developed using open-source tools and industry standards, and also integrates to any backend system using APIs. The product is available directly through AVATAR Partners or certified resellers.

Was there a problem using AR on an object as large as an aircraft?

We overcame several challenges to make the solution commercially usable. Using the basic development tools and markers didn’t work – it caused significant drift, jitter and an inability to accurately track the object as the maintainer walked around the aircraft. AVATAR Partners was able to overcome all of these issues by developing algorithms to lock on target without any drift or jitter to the user. Our solution being hardware agnostic, we found the Microsoft Hololens and android tablet supported higher fidelity. Also, we used Mantis Vision 3D scanners to scan the aircraft, gaining an accurate 3D model so that we could use object tracking (instead of markers). This along with our programming algorithms provides the maintainer with absolute precision as they walk around the aircraft, regardless of the unit’s size (from 1:6 the model size, to full aircraft).

Presenter 4 : Carlos Ochoa, ONE digital consulting

Presentation Theme

Carlos presented XR platform for immersive training, operation and maintenance of industry plant services, eolic farms, which includes advanced reality technologies in 3d interactive environments (extended reality, 360º video and digital data integration), methodologies in a modular architecture (on/off line). Innvestion deploy an intelligent XR ecosystem with the specialized know-how to turn unstructured data into value-adding information, for specific subject when providing services such as preventive maintenance, security management or operational management. Simulation-based training, prefaced with traditional training methods on process fundamentals, is the most efficient and fastest way to train new employees and prepare them for their daily work providing huge added value and benefits.

ONE digital consulting has been working for more than 20 years in the eLearning and Training arena, and with our selected partners network in Europe, Saudi, India, Africa and Latam.

Webinar Questions for Carlos Ochoa

What hardware configurations are everyone on the panel currently using for their XR applications?

For a full INNVESTION experience, the user only needs a mobile device and VR glasses that fit the device. The training centre will need an internet connection to download different modules.

INNVESTION can be used in a single “low cost” VR environment based on Samsung Gear Mobile VR, through the most advanced VR Oculus Rift, HTC Vive configuration. The key issue of INNVESTION is data integration in one device. From reality to virtual reality or vice versa.

INNVESTION can be used in a multi window spheric environment, for multiuser training environments.

What are KPI’s?

The acronym KPI sounds for Key Performance Indicator. This is a general business term referring to any metric used in understanding how an organization is doing. While the term can be tossed around the business world ostentatiously or irrelevantly, the fundamental rationale derives from the simple concept that if you don’t know how you did in the past, you don’t know if you have improved in the future. Because every business has its own economic niche, customer acquisition models, geographic localities, production methods, etc., each business must define for themselves what makes them successful. Therefore, the “key” in KPI, should be a metric key to your enterprise. These indicators are as varied as your imagination, but a number of familiar indicators include monthly recurring revenue (MRR), cost to acquire a customer (CAC) and the term used in this webinar’s title, Return on Investment (ROI).

When you are looking to improve your ROI in your training strategy, you need to understand clearly the training savings metrics, saved commute hours, lifelong expense of your LMS solution, overall productivity and revenue increase, other factors specific to your business and training model.

In conclusion, we can see selected companies  transforming their business opportunities for the XR technology and adopt it regardless of cost and ‘clunkiness.’ Today we see leader enterprises utilizing XR for training, maintenance, engineering, and marketing purposes. These companies eventually pull everyone else in their direction as the industry caters to their operational needs and chases enterprise benefits.

¿Real o Virtual?. El nuevo paradigma en la Educación 4.0.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández1 Comentario

La Realidad Virtual se ha convertido en el nuevo «Big Bang» de la innovación tecnológica y lleva rumbo de convertirse en otra «Nube Explosiva«, si no lo remediamos a tiempo. Cuando el “mundo” de las nuevas generaciones descubre algo novedoso, “lo último” lanzado por el “mundo” de la industria, epata y se deja llevar por imágenes, experiencias virtuales, anuncios…y olvidan filtrar y analizar toda esa información, procesarla convenientemente y ponerla a la disposición de su cerebro, para que de una manera inteligente aporte valor a su vida.

Si, desgraciadamente nos hemos convertido en una sociedad que se mueve a modo de impulsos, titulares y tweets y todo lo demás es información que sobra. Nuestro buffer sólo es capaz de procesar 140 caracteres y los 10 primeros segundos de un video en YouTube.

Aquel que dijo “que la información no ocupa lugar”, era un auténtico ignorante. Ya que el gran reto de la sociedad tecnológicamente avanzada, es almacenar, procesar, analizar y operar las grandes bases de información y convertirlas en datos de valor. E insisto, “VALOR”; no toda la información tiene valor, ni todo dato es susceptible de convertirse en información para crear valor.

Y con la innovación y las nuevas tecnologías y su aplicación en el día a día, ocurre algo muy parecido. Inteligencia artificial, digitalización, fotogrametría digital, robótica, realidad virtual…son conceptos del siglo pasado, en los que algunos hemos estado investigando y desarrollando durante años. Aplicando nuestros conocimientos y experiencias en distintos sectores y ámbitos de nuestra vida.

Y sin embargo aparecen hoy en día ante nosotros como los estandartes de la nueva revolución tecnológica. Reivindico la “memoria histórica”, la necesidad de estudiar en las escuelas y centros educativos, la evolución de la sociedad y en paralelo el impacto de las tecnologías en ella, aprender del pasado y afrontar los retos del futuro con imaginación y creatividad.

En particular, en el sector de la Realidad Virtual, algo que parece que está de moda total, el gran avance en los últimos años, ha venido de la mano del desarrollo de los dispositivos móviles. La oportunidad de poder disponer de soluciones complejas en un entorno móvil, sencillo, de fácil manejo y precios razonables. Esto es, innovación disruptiva en los terminales y democratización del acceso a aplicaciones, hasta ahora sólo accesibles a través de sofisticados dispositivos de hardware y software avanzado.

Pero lo que sin duda se convierte en una oportunidad, puede revertir en un gran fracaso si no se comprende y adapta convenientemente la tecnología a los entornos de uso o aplicación.

A lo largo de estos dos últimos años, hemos estado desarrollando aplicaciones para el sector educativo, turístico y artístico, basándonos en nuestros más de 15 años de experiencia aplicada y participación en proyectos de I+D europeos. Y vamos realizando nuestra labor de “misioneros avanzados”, explicando la tecnología, formando a usuarios en el manejo eficiente de la misma y presentando los beneficios y valores que aporta en los distintos ámbitos de aplicación.

La respuesta que encontramos habitualmente es de asombro, sorpresa…y en muchos casos de incredulidad ante lo que ven y pueden trasladar a su mente con un poco de imaginación y creatividad.

Por otro lado nos encontramos con otro grupo de usuarios, teóricamente algo experimentados, que cuando observan nuestras experiencias y proyectos, se sorprenden de una manera singular y particular…Se quitan lentamente el dispositivo de la cabeza, nos miran…y nos dicen con asombro…·esto es otra cosa”…y yo les pregunto, ¿ qué es otra cosa?…¿qué es lo que habías experimentado hasta ahora?…pero, esto será muy caro?, insisten, no?…

RV Cardboard

Y descubres, con cierta preocupación, que no sorpresa, que han experimentado algo, que realmente no sabría cómo calificar…” malas experiencia o malas prácticas”, a través de un “dispositivo” por llamarlo de alguna manera. Caja de cartón, con lentes de plástico y con un móvil sin “giróscopo” ni “acelerómetro” …sin resolución suficiente para el fin que pretende…etc. En definitiva, algo parecido a las gafas de diapositivas que nos vendían el siglo pasado en las puertas de las iglesias y monumentos de las ciudades, para pasar fotos con el dedo.

Esto no es tecnología avanzada, es más, no es tan siquiera tecnología, no es Realidad Virtual, no es SERIO. Y desde grandes multinacionales, se fomenta el uso de dispositivos muy dañinos para niños de corta edad, que además de no cumplir con unas mínimas normas de sanidad, no cumplen con la misión, ni objetivos que pretenden cumplir, según su publicidad. Internet está lleno de videos y fotos de niños menores, sentados en sus pupitres, mirando fijamente una pantalla de cartón, tras la cual, nadie sabe lo que pasa…o quizás si…eso no parece divertido, más bien un castigo ¡!!

Según algunas encuestas realizadas en centros escolares de EEUU, se dice que una de las barreras de entrada de la tecnología VR en la educación, es el precio de las gafas de Realidad Virtual. Hablamos de Gafas VR, y sinceramente, creo que no se está diciendo la verdad (por desconocimiento o falta de información). Ya que la diferencia entre unos dispositivos económicos y otros profesionales apenas varían en unos 30 euros, sin embargo, la calidad de los mismos en cuanto a óptica, funcionalidad, prestaciones y usabilidad, no tienen nada que ver. Por otro lado, ambos dispositivos requieren del mismo nivel de calidad y características del terminal móvil o Smartphone, hablando en el entorno Samsung, S6 mínimo. O dicho de otra forma, no se puede confundir un patinete con una moto GT.

Y la pregunta es…qué sentido tiene adquirir unas gafas VR por 10/20 euros vs un dispositivo profesional de 35/50, si el terminal móvil mínimo que necesito será el mismo en ambos casos y el coste final estará entre 300/500 euros?…O estamos hablando de otra cosa?.

No hay atajos a la tecnología, al igual que no hay atajos en la educación. Pero si hay métodos, formas y tecnologías que facilitan el acceso, la comprensión y la práctica de casos y experiencias reales a partir de entornos simulados o virtuales. Al igual que los ordenadores y las tablets entraron en las aulas, la Realidad Virtual y los dispositivos móviles entrarán, pero de otra manera.

No con el afán de sustituir a los terminales antiguos, que ya intentaron sustituir a su vez a los libros, no. Será para definir un nuevo entorno de aprendizaje disruptivo, en donde profesores y alumnos descubrirán experiencias conjuntamente, desarrollaran actividades siguiendo procesos aleatorios e interactuando con distintas tecnologías que facilitaran el acceso a soluciones reales y la compresión global de las actuaciones que se planteen, desde la concepción hasta el desarrollo final o solución. El desarrollo de experiencias, los métodos de trabajo orientados a acciones, la colaboración de equipos multidisciplinares, el manejo de distintas tecnologías para afrontar problemáticas diversas, acercan a los estudiantes a la realidad, pudiendo comprender la relación entre la teoría y su aplicación práctica de una manera más cercana y real.

VR Education Picture

La realidad virtual en la educación puede aplicarse de innumerables maneras, pero yo las simplificaría en dos: Bien y mal.

Una tecnología que permite desarrollar la creatividad de profesores y alumnos para aportar valor al conocimiento, facilitar el acceso a situaciones de la vida real, que de otra manera seria imposible y muy costoso, comprender las materias en su contexto, interactuar con situaciones reales en entornos virtuales. En fin, afrontar y resolver problemas del mundo real desde un entorno virtual, tan complejos como sean y tan sencillo y divertido como interactuar con un video juego.

Desde SmartEducationLabs, apostamos por la tecnología avanzada, aportando valor real a la comunidad educativa, a partir de buenas prácticas, soluciones avanzadas y metodologías contrastadas, al servicio de la comunidad, contribuyendo así al desarrollo de una sociedad más sostenible, justa e igualitaria.

SmartEducationLabs, es la primera plataforma de Educación, diseñada y desarrollada en España, por un equipo multidisciplinar con más de 20 años de experiencia en las tecnologías avanzadas y su aplicación a la Educación.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

Building artificial realities from Virtual experiences.

Carlos J. Ochoa FernándezDeja un comentario

Disruptive Innovation for Smart Life Experiences

The image is use to deceive the senses and the intelligence by means of the illusion (Platón)

Let us imagining for a while we were “teleported” into the “Year 2050” …close your eyes and try to “imagine “how it looks like. Think about it for a minute. We can imagine a futuristic picture of the world, but all our pictures looks different. Our imagination is restrict by our education, knowledge, background, and social environment. However, our creativity has no limits.

Now, try to reimagine the past as it was many centuries ago…but with the knowledge from today…it could be something like a: “Virtual Ancient » scenario. Think about the ancient society’s needs and demands, the citizen’s skills, without internet, smartphones, tablets, social media… This could be a script for a science fiction film…or a new storytelling for a Virtual reality immersive experience.

We are living in a new digital century, where immersion and technological dependence condition our lives and the society´s development. A “Smart society” in which the power of the image and the recreated illusion predominate. Through television, movies, mobile devices, smartphones, gadgets, video games and now the immersive reality, we are the permanent object and destination of messages through millions of images and subliminal sensations that ends in one way or another, setting guidelines, and trends. In short, a different way of understanding present, past and future reality and of interacting with it.

Throughout history, human has used the image as an element of communication. The creation of maps, communication routes, recreation of inventions and illusions … have served man as a tool for development and technological evolution «Leonardo Davinci»

The human condition can almost be summed up in the observation of things, whereas all experiences are from the past, all decisions are about the future. It is the great task of human knowledge to bridge this gap and to find those patterns in the past, which can be project it into the future as realistic images. Reimagining the future, therefore, is the key to all choice-oriented behavior.

Nowadays, Immersive technologies allow us to bring human to unimagined paradises, to reconstruct ancient spaces, worlds and invented realities. Allowing us to experiment and interact with them as if we were living in a figuratively imagined reality.

The development of communications infrastructures, smartphones and RV and AV devices at affordable prices are dramatically revolutionizing application sectors and user environments. Related to the world of culture, tourism and education, the opportunities for massive use of these technologies, is nowadays a reality. What contributes with high value to the society, developing accessible applications and contends that are available to global community.

 The opportunities that open up around us, for the promotion of cultural tourism or high benefit, and its dissemination and approach of knowledge at the global level are enormous:

To put in value the cultural heritage of the humanity through its recreation, recovery and conservation

  • Incorporation of RV and AR as tools for study, analysis, evaluation, reconstruction and visualization, bringing knowledge to the community in a simple and intuitive way
  • Create promotion centers, with tools that are easy to interpret, manage and accessible, accessing content of high value and in a fun way, where different communities and groups of knowledge can interact and contribute value and experiences in network. Edutainment
  • Promoting and disseminating tourism through the recreation of spaces and unique and spectacular environments, immersive and interactive spaces, combining past, present and future, as if we are in a time machine, as a call to on-site visits.

From its earliest origins, humanity has always sought to augment the story-telling experience, whether with arts expressions, music, theatrical performance, machinery or technological innovation. Virtual and Augmented Reality are simply the next step on this curve: a means of authentically bringing ideas to life and creating a realistic narrative that others are not only able to imagine, but can truly experience for themselves.

Cuenca.jpg

I have been working with Virtual Technologies for many years in different areas of knowledge and application, but specially focus on education, cultural heritage preservation and tourism promotion. It was fun, but tough to share nonacademic communities, because the cost of technology, infrastructures and broadband availability. Now everything is changing very fast due the smartphone ecosystem and the high-speed broadband infrastructures development.

Virtual Reality has long been moot as an educational tool. From SmartEducationLabs we are promoting different initiatives like: My Smart Destinations (Tourism Promotion & Education), My Smart Classroom (Education)…and many other. We already used the technology to create immersive learning ‘experiences’ for citizens, learning and knowledge communities, and we are exploring many life experiences about the possibilities of creating virtual disruptive ecosystems.

In addition to many others projects to come along this exciting year.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

Trends, Challenges and Innovation Spaces for Digital Engineering

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández1 Comentario

If we wish to prepare a generation of professionals and experts in the Industry and Energy field to can solve real-world problems, we must give them real-world problems to solve.

chemical plant

One of the greatest challenges of today’s society and in particular the European Union is to develop a more competitive, efficient, productive, innovative and under a high added value sustainable model industry.

An industry, able to lead both strategic and emerging sectors by creating high valued job positions, requires its efforts to focus on R&D+I and knowledge management. And to do this, it is necessary to make an incremental effort in each and every one of the components that directly or indirectly affect the industry. The purpose is to promote new forms and methods for learning and training of professionals that will be drawn into the market, and training and adaptation of existing professionals to be more competitive in their present positions by using more effective digital technologies and processes.

The New Digital Era is beginning to define a new global scenario, which goes further than the simple digitization of objects and things. It is a new context that involves a new way of thinking and adapting the knowledge, processes and procedures to this new backdrop, as well as its transmission to persons and professionals in this field. This is something that is very subtly present in our day to day and that is clearly reflected in digital engineering and in technologies, methods and procedures that are applied to several sectors such as medical, industrial, energy, water management, manufacture and telecommunication, etc.

To speak of digital engineering is to speak of simulation, virtual reality and so forth. Thomas Perkins already in 1985 clearly described this in his work Simulation Technology in Operator Training. Full-scope, plant specific simulators are part of a new reality. In which he explained how in the early 1970s the first simulators to be used in training plant operators in nuclear plants were developed. Many years have passed since then and there have been great changes in this field, both at the conceptual and operational level, which will be examined in detail in this work.

The future framework for training, learning and vocational training of professionals from the industry and energy sectors, leave permanently redefined from the experiences and case studies of working groups and national and international experts from a more global perspective.

Innovation is making headway in this complex world, where the contribution and converge of knowledge and technologies, procedures and interactive learning methods, is revolutionizing the world of e-training, for a more global and qualified professionals.

But in this process, we want to focus on one key success factor: “the use of digital technologies such as advanced simulators technologies, the serious gaming, augmented reality, on-line communication, integrated devices, geometry scanning, or digital interactive documents in order to improve the productivity, the quality, the security and the implementation methodology of these practices”.

The improvement in the development of professional’s activity, performed by digital engineering experts, is a key factor to resolve faster and better complex or critical situations. For this purpose, it is necessary to analyze and manage multiple and heterogeneous information, data, situations, localizations and databases, based on technology, to provide real solutions in a knowledge management environment.

Advanced Simulations, Game Based Training, Gammification, Augmented Reality and Digital Interactive Manuals offer new possibilities in the educational and professional training environment, allowing a greater involvement of students in their own learning context and a continuous digital content and tools evolution.

The teacher / tutor-student relationship is enhanced by the facilities that offer Simulations & Serious Games and Augmented Reality technology when creating virtual communities and tools for the use in the classroom in an effective, simple and friendly community. The efficient new technologies implementation in old organizations needs to adapt methods and procedures in a culture change program. Actions Based Training is the way to success.

Actions Based Learning ®, which is a new Technology Based Training Approach, depending on the organization and training project to address, creates a matrix that meets the requirements for every action, what user profile addresses each action, what type of training program, capacitive or training, the exchange of information and documentation to be used, the format and method to deliver information and the technology to use.

Serious Games, Virtual Reality, Advanced Simulators, Digital Text Books, Augmented Reality…and the integration with brand new devices and Actions Based Learning methods will drive this challenge to a new dimension of interactive training and maintenance and support of risk and critical situations. In which technology convergence, efficient knowledge management, sustainability and time will be the new drivers of Digital Engineering in the Energy and Industry fields.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©