Leading industrial enterprises around the world have adapted VR to their needs. Since there are no ready-made specialized solutions for enterprises on the market, the companies have to use their own products, while taking into account the peculiarities of production, independently solve problems of integration, conversion and scaling.
In 2014, according to statistics the number of virtual reality users was less than a million, and in 2022 it reached more than 171 million users worldwide. According to Fortune Business Insights the global VR market size is projected to grow from $16.67 billion in 2022 to $227.34 billion by 2029.
VR is a technology that immerses users in an artificially simulated environment. In VR space, the user interacts with glasses or a helmet, controllers or suits, gloves with haptic communication.
Virtual reality in manufacturing is used for introductory and initial instructions, training on complex and technological equipment, and demonstrating the infrastructure of an enterprise. Efficiency is achieved through the ability of VR to immerse users in realistic situations and recreate complex workflows.
It is necessary to understand that the introduction of virtual reality into the production process is part of the digital transformation of the enterprise and radically changes the established approach to its work. Therefore, the introduction of VR requires a well-thought-out implementation strategy, preliminary data collection and analysis, and monitoring of the effectiveness of solutions. It is required to understand how the technology will be scaled, adjusted or customised for specific business processes.
In order to make a decision on the use of a VR tool in production, it is necessary to answer the following questions:
- What goals does the company plan to achieve through the introduction of VR?
- How does virtual reality contribute to the achievement of goals?
- What problems of the enterprise will virtual reality be the most effective to solve?
- What benefits, including economic benefits, does the use of VR bring?
- How, where and on what VR simulators will employees explore and work?
- Which specialist will be responsible for the process of learning or working with VR?
- How will the piloting process be organised, what indicators need to be taken into account?
Virtual Reality Simulators in Workflow Training
VR simulators can be scaled to an unlimited number of employees. VR-learning creates associative links between theory and practice: a person acquires new knowledge and immediately has the opportunity to apply it in the virtual space. Virtual simulators are used to teach new employees how to work with expensive or dangerous equipment without risks to life or breaking of real equipment or harm to the environment.
Practice in VR mode can be done countless times, until the actions are done in almost auto mode. The effect of complete immersion and the inability to be distracted by external things allows a trainee to assimilate information several times faster and more efficiently than with traditional training. VR training can be done remotely without the participation of mentors, as well as testing trainees and saving time, physical and financial resources.
Benefits of VR:
- Increased workforce productivity by 32%
- Reduced operational errors up to 30%
- Reduced the task completion time by 25%
- More than 85% of educational material is successfully understood and applied.
One of such examples is a virtual reality simulator developed by Big Dream Lab to train vehicle technical condition inspectors at companies that transport people and goods. With the help of the simulator, the specialist is immersed in a virtual environment for training and practising the skills of conducting a pre-trip inspection of vehicles. According to the instructions, the employee must master the rules and procedure for checking the health of the machine and its equipment. The simulator gives the user the opportunity to repeatedly conduct a virtual inspection of the transport, work out mistakes and memorise the acquired skills.
Why are VR training simulators effective?
- Practical skills
- Mastering skills for managing technological processes at hazardous production facilities.
- Safety
- Overview of production technology in a safe environment and without going to the job site.
- Cost saving on training by an average of 50% (no need to purchase training equipment and physical stands, distraction of personnel from production for the training period).
- Increased interest in the learning process and deep immersion in the material. More than 85% of the educational material is successfully acquired.
VR-technologies in industrial safety
Emergency situations at enterprises require a quick response of specialists and prompt coordination of decisions to mitigate their consequences. Virtual reality training allows users to feel the effects of accidents and emergencies and take action to eliminate them. An employee can climb to a height, interact with dangerous objects and phenomena, and most importantly, feel what is happening. VR simulation has a great emotional impact on employees, encouraging them to think independently in critical circumstances and follow work instructions.
Virtual reality technology was studied in detail by psychologists and methodologists. After training in virtual reality, employees can cope with emergency situations quickly and remember the sequence of actions better.
Virtual tours of production
Virtual tours of production allow you to take a tour of remote, dangerous or closed facilities. Such solutions can be used to demonstrate work processes to clients, at exhibitions or for staff training. For this purpose, in addition to creating a 3D production environment, 360-degree video shooting technology can also be used, which can also have the desired effect on the user.
Global digitalization is inevitable and all industrial enterprises will eventually have to face it.
Big Dream Lab will help your company make a smooth transition to digitalization through the development of virtual reality simulators. Creating a solution for your company will include the main steps:
- Definition of the problem to be solved by the simulator. To do this, an analysis of the company’s activities is carried out and pain points are identified that affect a whole production process.
- Creating a user experience script: the user action algorithm is written from beginning to end. At this stage additional simulator functions are discussed: recording, analysis and evaluation of user actions in auto mode, integration with any company systems, creation of a desktop version of the program, the manager mode, and others.
- Creation of scope of work based on the collected information. Based on this, development of the simulator takes place in the future in stages. Normally, the minimum viable product (MVP) is produced first to be demonstrated and agreed with the customer, and then the main and additional simulator functions are added. Within 1-3 months, depending on the complexity of the virtual environment simulator, your company will receive a ready-made solution for enterprise integration.