Safety Factor: How Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Are Revolutionizing Industrial Training

Intro

– [Andrew Kauser] I could use my iPhone right now, scan this room and have a digital twin that we could be sitting in virtually if we had our headsets on and having this conversation, but all three of us would be in different parts of this world and not sitting here in this room. And you can then blend that with, now you’ve got an instructor in the room and you’ve got a virtual piece of equipment, and they’re all looking at it together and they’re talking about it. They’re taking out their multimeters and they’re testing, and the students are all over the world, and the instructor is in one location.

– [Announcer] For your own safety, you’re reminded to stand behind the yellow line.

(upbeat music)

– [Ben Hengst] Welcome to, “Safety Factor,” my name is Ben Hengst, and today we’re talking about new technologies, advancing industrial training. I’m joined by Adam Franz, regional sales manager for Mazzella, as well as Andrew Kauser, chief product officer, and SVP of Simulated and Online Learning from ITI, Industrial Training International. Thanks for joining me, guys.

– [Andrew Kauser] Pleasure to be here.

How are VR and AR being used to improve industrial training?

– [Ben Hengst] So, how are virtual reality and augmented reality being used to improve industrial training for safety purposes?

– [Andrew Kauser] So ITI is in the crane and rigging business, and we’ve been conducting programs really for the last 36 years. It’s all about making people safe and productive in work. What we’re finding is 90% of crane operation accidents are still human error related. Many unfortunately cause fatalities. And VR crane simulation, VR operator simulation is really allowing us to take those operators, put them in an environment where they can learn how to operate the equipment, but in a safe way. And also experience what it’s like to operate cranes in all different environments with hazards, yet do so in a way that’s not going to put them in harm, and at the same time improve their muscle memory and ultimately with their work in the job in a safe way. So that’s really what I find is fascinating about the industry, AR and simulation is really starting to take that experiential learning and make it such that somebody can be equipped with tools before they get into the real world to do work.

How are older generations adapting to VR for training?

– [Ben Hengst] So do you feel like this is more geared towards the younger generation or do you find anybody is adapting to this?

– [Andrew Kauser] You know, it’s interesting. I think that certainly the young generations more adapt to experiencing training and learning in a different modality. And VR is a natural fit for them. It’s a more like a game. And you do see resistance with the older generation saying, “No, I’ve operated a crane for 30 years, I’ll never sit on that. It doesn’t make sense.” As soon as they put the headset on and are immersed in the environment, you begin to see them really operate and behave as though they’re in the actual crane. And there’s a bit of a light bulb switch that goes on because they realize that actually training in this way can be very immersive, eliminates all the distraction of other things going on and allows for repetition on lifts and activities that allow you to perfect the job that you would normally do. And you might not have that opportunity on the real piece of equipment because it’s in use. So we’re finding that although it’s much faster and easier for the young generation, the older generation’s taking to it as well. Yeah.

What is the experience like in a VR crane simulator?

– [Ben Hengst] So, what’s the experience like? What’s it like being in the simulator?

– [Andrew Kauser] You really can’t do it justice by watching somebody on a screen using VR. You have to put on the headset and engage. And the reason I say that is we’re sitting here and you can hear noise. (people chattering) you can hear other things going on while we’re conducting this discussion. When you put on a headset, the current environment drops away, you’re now in your 3D world. And that world includes sound and it includes some tactile feedback. And suddenly you forget where you are and you think you’re in this new environment. And that to me is what’s real about that training modality is it puts you in a place where you get to experience what it’s like being 300 feet up on a wind farm or being in a tower crane looking down. I mean, it actually weeds people out of jobs sometimes because they realize, “No, no, I’ve got a fear of heights, this is not for me.”

– [Adam Franz] Yeah. And I would say, you know, going to Washington to ITI’s headquarters was able to operate with the overhead crane simulator as well as the RT simulator to go get hands on and understand it. So I’ve operated some cranes before, overhead cranes just after sale and commissioning of them, but then got to grab the joysticks and operate it and run through it and immerse yourself in that. It was a very real feel and the slack control or the sway of the hoist and trolley, it was very spot on to feathering how the drives work amongst the cranes. And it was a very, very real feel. I reflect on that and it was a really, really interesting experience. I know that there are some industry leaders that train their folks and staff and people in certain segments that are utilizing these simulators to bring their new hires on board. Everybody needs people and we need to fill, you know, all the baby boomers that are retiring. And I believe that simulators are the next step to engage folks, right?

How is VR being used to build an interest in lifting in the youth?

– [Adam Franz] They’re cool, they’re understanding, but it also gets people in the door and gets them on the sticks to really understand what they’re going to get themselves into or not. So it helps really qualify them out somewhat to see if they want to go to that next level. Is that what you see, Andrew?

– [Andrew Kauser] Yeah. No, I see that for sure. And in some instances some of our customers are taking these simulators to schools and getting the young folks that may not be destined for your four year university to actually spend a little time in the crane sim more and realize that, “Wow, this is interesting. I might want to do this as a career or as a vocation.” And it gives that exposure to somebody that otherwise it would be hard to get them exposed to.

– [Adam Franz] Right. We could put you in a simulator of an RT or a crawler crane.

– [Andrew Kauser] Right.

– [Adam Franz] But we’re not going to give you the sticks to a five or $6 million piece of equipment to go run. So it gives them that experience, they may gravitate towards it. There’s a lot of opportunities for the youth to definitely become engaged and involved in those. And I think that’s what’s really exciting with partnering with ITI and being that thought leader in that space. And that’s really going to help drive our industry is we need that youth influx to take over and really set us up for success.

– [Andrew Kauser] Right. And that’s where simulation, I think is an interesting avenue to get those younger folks coming out of high school or looking for a vocation, they can take this program. It doesn’t have to be just an operator. It could be an inspector, it could be a technician. You can learn how to do a job in a simulated way before you actually have to put your hands on the equipment.

How can VR contribute to a learning path and open opportunities?

– [Andrew Kauser] I’m not saying that you never do and that’s part of your learning path. Certainly real world experience is involved, but simulation can get you pretty far down the road in terms of muscle memory, tool selection, the right procedures to follow before you even get in front of the actual piece of equipment.

– [Adam Franz] You look at a lot of our customers that are crane rental firms or large construction firms. You know, a lot of these folks, you know, you start as the oiler first before you become the crane operator. Then you kind of got your grooming before you can get in the seat. Well, you go a few layers back from that. They’re generally the family member, their uncle worked there or their father worked there, and that’s what got them into that trade. Well, now this opens it up where you have a lot of other folks that have opportunities because of it, and that’s what’s really exciting about what the simulators can do.

– [Andrew Kauser] Absolutely. Absolutely.

How does simulation compare to training on the real machine?

– [Ben Hengst] So, how does it compare to real world training on the actual machine?

– [Andrew Kauser] So there’ve been actually a number of studies. Everybody’s kind of investigating this. And our crane sim has done, we were supported by the NCCO Foundation to do a study with them. Basically they did the study, they used our simulators. And comparing basically a virtual crane sim, NCCO practical exam to the real life and having the individuals go through both, we were 95% accurate on the simulator being able to predict whether somebody could pass or fail the real world example. And that was pretty telling. And that was just out of the box simulator, right, without any fine tuning. Have we spent time to really fine tune that, we could probably get close to a hundred percent, so very similar. Now in terms of efficacy, what we find in studying it is there’s, it’s probably an even balance between instructor-led training and doing… and simulation right now. You basically get the same capability in both areas. But what some studies have shown is that somebody who spends time in simulation and builds that muscle memory and has experiences, situations that they may not experience on a real life crane will perform two and three quarters times more, more likely to perform or react to a situation that otherwise they won’t react to in real life.

How can simulation improve the ability to react by up to 3/4 times?

– [Ben Hengst] Do you have any examples of that? Like some, what they might be experiencing?

– [Andrew Kauser] So, and it doesn’t have to be crane sim, let’s talk about fall protection or blood borne pathogens or AED, right? So if I’ve gone through a course and learning how to use an a AED on somebody who’s fallen and needs to be revived, typically in a training session, I might get exposure to the machine and learn how to use it, but there are probably other 10 other people in that class, and my hands on the equipment is fairly limited, right? We can simulate that exact same activity. And you can actually be involved in making sure that you apply them the machine properly, you turn it on and revive the person or whatever. That kind of example. And as has been studied, anybody who’s been through that and through simulation is two and three quarters times more likely to act in a real world situation than somebody who’s just learned it in a class and may have had their hands on it, but didn’t really spend a lot of time doing it.

Can VR Crane Simulation help get you NCCO certified?

– [Ben Hengst] So I guess that’s one way that companies are ensuring that operators and riggers have been trained using the technology are actually prepared for real world scenarios. Are there any certifications or tests that they have to take that kind of graduate them into using a real crane?

– [Andrew Kauser] Well, certainly there are certification bodies out there, and NCCO being one of them. And a lot of our crane operators would want that certification. We can prepare them, we can give them practice within the real world, real world, the simulated world, a prep of going through the CCO exam of z corridor with tennis balls on the poles, and they can practice that which will prepare them for going and sitting on the real crane and doing that work now and taking that certification. So we can’t certify them in the sim right now, but we can certainly get them down the road of being much more capable when they do sit on that real piece of equipment.

Can you name an employee as Qualified to operate a crane with VR?

– [Adam Franz] So I’ll speak from an overhead crane perspective, right? So there is no certification required for an overhead crane. So these overhead crane simulators are, you know, the folks are using these at their facilities to make people aware of how they work, how the joysticks laid out. And then you can mirror that to that simulation. Then you can literally go put them in that cab of that crane, right? There’s no certification but that would be the employer that’s deeming that you’re then qualified to operate their equipment.

– [Andrew Kauser] Right.

– [Adam Franz] So you could utilize that as maybe a piece, right? Not a hundred percent saying right, that the simulator says that you’re a great crane operator, but it could be a percentage of portion of understanding if someone’s ready to go run that 40 ton overhead crane in that process environment.

Can VR crane training be superior to training on a real crane?

– [Andrew Kauser] No, absolutely. And kind of to dovetail on that, the traditional way of learning is to possibly carve out some time where you’re training on that live machine in a live environment.

– [Adam Franz] That’s right.

– [Andrew Kauser] And it’s creating some safety concerns and issues and whatnot, so instead you can do that training in a simulated way and have the operator experience things that they’re not going to experience in the real world. You can have the hydraulics fail or the load slip or issues come up that they, you wouldn’t want to test them on in the real world.

– [Adam Franz] That’s right. And those companies that are willing to invest in these simulators and these creative solutions to get training, you know, these are process equipment facilities. These are cranes that are running 24/7. So you think of getting a simulator or a lease or something like that, that’s a, the total cost of ownership isn’t taking away from that downtime in the shipping bay or the melt shop crane. And I’m speaking specifically to a steel mill. But possibly at a paper mill.

– [Andrew Kauser] Right.

– [Adam Franz] You got a wet end and a dry end crane. You’re not waiting to have the down day or downtime to possibly go train that new person. You’re able to get them 90% of the way there before you put them in the cab.

– [Andrew Kauser] Yeah.

– [Adam Franz] And then give them that blessing, right, that, “Okay, we believe that you are qualified now to operate our overhead crane.”

– [Andrew Kauser] Absolutely.

– [Adam Franz] And that builds that bench of talent as well.

– [Andrew Kauser] Yeah, absolutely. And that’s the way a lot of our customers are using it right now. They’re using it as that program to get new hires up to speed, essentially.

How can VR and AR improve accessibility to industrial training?

– [Ben Hengst] So I guess that leads me to my next question, which is how is this going to help improve accessibility to training? Like you mentioned you can go into schools now and train people on cranes before they’re out of high school. So what are some other ways that this is going to just make it easier to access training?

– [Andrew Kauser] The crane sims that we offer are fairly high fidelity and typically require hardware, so they’re not to the point where you can just have the headset and use your joysticks because they’re not going to give you that real world feel of operating a crane or holding a belly box. We have gone down the road of now virtualizing a pendant, so we have a pendant controlled overhead crane. And it’s a virtual pendant, so all you need is the headset and the paddles. So it’s beginning to get to the point where it is more accessible and therefore could be available to a broader market like schools and whatnot, which don’t require the hardware.

How does VR Crane simulation utilize OEM controls?

– [Ben Hengst] So, I guess we didn’t really talk about that. So it’s not really just an… you put on a headset and you’ve got a video game controller. Like you’re putting on a headset and you’re actually in the cab holding a joystick, or you’ve got the belly box.

– [Andrew Kauser] Right, so it’s married with technol.. or hardware that is very representative of the OEM controls. And that’s important because you don’t want them learning how to simulate a crane with a joystick or a Game Boy. They actually have to physically use the controls. So we actually use OEM parts from our manufacturers or belly boxes and marry that with a simulation, so it gives them that real world experience. And it’s an important part of it.

– [Adam Franz] So part of that simulation, remember when I was in Washington, you talk about that feel, you sit in the mobile crane one, you look down and you look up to the load and you’re seeing it, you’re feeling it, you’re feeling it move. And I’ve sat in other mobile pieces of equipment and it truly feels that way. So that speaks really to that muscle memory or repetition of what they’re doing. So it’s not just a a video game per se. This is a very…

How does VR make industrial training fun?

– [Andrew Kauser] We call them serious games.

– [Adam Franz] Yeah, yeah.

– [Andrew Kauser] I’ll tell you, our developers are gamers. They build games for a living, but they do it in a serious way. So all these simulations that we build, so take a specific crane, an overhead crane, we have about 250 scenarios within that. And they’re game-like, every one of those scenarios is, you know, run this, pick up the load, move it here, drop it down, and they get harder and more complex and they’re blind and whatnot, but each one of them is like a game. You get five stars at the end, or you get graded on your process and ultimately that turns into a learning plan or a path. And so you don’t feel like you’re being just through rote training, you’re actually going through a really enjoyable experience at the end of the day and a game-like environment, but much more serious because it’s real world.

How can VR improve training in real time?

– [Ben Hengst] I was over there earlier today and I was looking at, I was watching people play around in the sims and I thought it was interesting how it also just, it tells you what you’re doing wrong as you’re doing it. So it’s not like you don’t, you pick it up and you’re like, “Why? What happened?”

– [Andrew Kauser] Yes.

– [Ben Hengst] It’s telling you like, you’re not centered, you’re not.

– [Andrew Kauser] Right. And we we’ll remediate at the end of every one of those scenarios and kind of give you an indication of what you did wrong. And some things you, I’m not a crane operator, so I’ve never really, I’ll get in it and do stuff and realize, “Oh, wait a second, you’re right, I did fly the load over an individual. That’s not a good thing, I guess.” And then they deducted points for it, or they stopped the scenario and I had to start again.

– [Adam Franz] Or I was to run it down the path of the aisleway and then shift it over because there was something there. I mean, and then they grade you for that, or you have to stop it in an area and minimize that load swing and then set it down in a certain area. That’s where it’s very, you know, that’s, it’s very realistic.

How can virtual training impact the future of training?

– [Andrew Kauser] Yeah.

– [Ben Hengst] So how do you see technology in general just impacting the workforce and addressing fatalities, injuries, things like that.

– [Andrew Kauser] So it’s been interesting and I have this kind of pre-COVID mindset and this post-COVID mindset. And before COVID you still had a lot of resistance to technology. You had people basically, and the older generation saying, “I’ll never learn in this way.” And it was amazing to see that switch when suddenly we’re locked down and people need to learn, but they don’t, the only way you can do it is virtually. And if you think about it, and there’s studies, again you look at. And my mother who’s 85 years old, suddenly learned how to order food online or have calls with her grandchildren virtually and all this stuff that they would never have done before. And the same thing happened with training. So, a lot of resistance that was there for technology bring coming into the training world is really dropped away and people are adopting it much quicker. So I think there’s this healthy interest now in looking at, well, how can this technology help us improve our training? We’re not suggesting that instructor-led training is going away or shouldn’t happen. It should, but there are elements of it that can be supported by and improved upon with simulation. And it actually lessens the load on an instructor because they can have their individuals go through these activities and have the computer consistently kind of mark and grade them and tell them what they did wrong and get them to practice again without tying up that instructor where they can focus on other areas.

– [Adam Franz] Yeah. That comment. I mean it was that during COVID forced adoption, right?

– [Andrew Kauser] Right.

– [Adam Franz] If you wanted to communicate with your family, you’re going to use a Zoom call, the free Zoom license for 30 minutes. Or a Teams call or FaceTime.

– [Andrew Kauser] Right.

– [Adam Franz] And all these other apps. And I think that that’s really progressed technology from a learning perspective as well, right? There’s learning management systems, right? It was always instructor-led training while now there’s so many other medias in which to achieve that training. And that’s what makes it super exciting being tied, I mean, simulators are the really cool one, right? But there’s always like a learning management system and test and retest and understand. And then it’s a total cost of ownership, but it could also reduce on some costs as well if you do it the correct way, right? An accident or an injury is exponential.

– [Andrew Kauser] Right. Right.

What does a proper learning plan look like with VR?

– [Andrew Kauser] And a lot of our programs are just that. They’re not, we’re not trying to say one system is be all end all for training. So a proper learning plan would probably include some instructor-led training, a lot of e-learning, some simulator time, and ultimately qualification on the equipment or time on the, you know… real world.

– [Adam Franz] It’d be a basket of a learning journey, right?

– [Andrew Kauser] Yes.

– [Adam Franz] It’s not just, there’s not, I’m going to get training done and I’m done. No, it creates a pathway of reinforced learning through a learning journey.

– [Andrew Kauser] Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

What industries are using simulation for industrial training?

– [Ben Hengst] So what are some industries that you’re seeing starting to implement this or be more accepting of it?

– [Andrew Kauser] We’re pretty broadly positioned across all industries. We’ve had a lot of success in steel as you mentioned. I mean, there’s there you’re in production environments where you can’t utilize the crane for training and they still need to onboard and find new good operators. So industry, any industries where there’s safety concerns, high demand for talent and equipment scarcity is probably the opportunity we have.

– [Adam Franz] There’s segments that really value the culture of training. It’s not just you walk in the wall and on the lobby it’s, oh yeah, we right, we promote safety. No, no, no. You, if you’re going down a learning journey, you have safety, you embody safety as a part of your core value. And I think that’s where, you know, you see those in a lot of different pockets or areas. And if they truly, that’s where they have to walk the talk of that they’re a safety based culture and understanding. So I could think of places that have simulators or I’ve seen or truly invest in their training, right? I mean, ASME B30 states, you must be qualified. Well, how are you going to be qualified? Well, what are you doing to qualify an employee? And there’s people that embody that safety culture to ensure that they put their team members on a learning journey to achieve that.

– [Andrew Kauser] Absolutely. Yeah.

What does the future classroom look like in 10 years?

– [Ben Hengst] So, how do you envision the future classroom like maybe 10 years from now?

– [Andrew Kauser] Yeah. Well, it is interesting. I’ve had the luxury of being able to see and advise some really interesting technology, especially around simulation and utilizing technology to deliver training. So there are opportunities even on the instructor-led training side. I guess what I see is some of the barriers to scale. Even for an instructor-led training organization is the number of instructors you have, distance, getting individuals into a classroom, travel, all that stuff. Technology can solve a lot of that these days. And simulation can as well because now you can put people in environments. And there’s, I could use my iPhone right now, scan this room and have a digital twin that we could be sitting in virtually if we had our headsets on and having this conversation. But all three of us would be in different parts of this world and not sitting here in this room. And you can then blend that with, now you’ve got an instructor in the room and you’ve got a virtual piece of equipment and they’re all looking at it together and they’re talking about it. They’re taking out their multimeters and they’re testing. And the students are all over the world and the instructor is in one location.

– [Adam Franz] I think it’s going to be the environment in 10 years of continue to do more with less.

– [Andrew Kauser] Yeah.

– [Adam Franz] The scarce resources, people and expertise.

– [Andrew Kauser] Right.

– [Adam Franz] So do more with less means more technology. That means more automation. That means more training, right? Got to be able to do more with less. And that’s ultimately your business efficiencies that you’re building. And that’s where using a training and a learning journey like this would definitely support that, right? Your limited resource is that in-person trainer. Well, that person doesn’t have to be on a plane coming to see you.

– [Andrew Kauser] Right.

– [Adam Franz] You’ve got that now right there to utilize that technology to train.

– [Andrew Kauser] Absolutely.

– [Adam Franz] So that’s where I see that, you know, where it’s going in the next 10 years

How can technology be used to address the skills gap?

– [Adam Franz] from that perspective.

– [Ben Hengst] How do you see technology being used to address the skills gap that we have right now?

– [Andrew Kauser] One of the things we’re finding is that companies are realizing, one, there’s, I mean not realizing, they know there’s a massive skills gap and they have issues and their issues to growth are not having enough people in the right roles doing the jobs. So you have to onboard them, you got to do it efficiently. So there’re organizations out there that are very good at finding and sourcing talent from the standpoint of these guys have the right or and gals have the right capabilities, but now they’ve got to be trained. And companies have realized that the way to get them trained has changed. And it’s not just bring everybody into one place and do it in the classroom. There’s a path to learning that you can create where you are providing some virtual instruction. You might even have an instructor using a Zoom like capability to do some mentoring and some facilitation, but having them separately do out and do some OJT. And then bring them into a location at some point and do some type of hands-on capstone events. But simulation then can be weaved in throughout that entire process. So it’s really a journey of trying to take, “Wow, this program where we used to take six months to get somebody up to speed,” you can shorten it by getting them through using technology to a much faster place than you otherwise would.

– [Adam Franz] Right. You’re shortening that time.

– [Andrew Kauser] Yeah.

– [Adam Franz] From them coming in fresh to being a productive employee.

– [Andrew Kauser] Yeah.

– [Adam Franz] Providing the results that you all OR everyone’s looking for essentially.

– [Andrew Kauser] Yeah. And a lot of organizations right now are really looking at that because that’s really the barrier to growth right now is having the right skilled workers, especially within the number of retirements and everything else coming out though.

– [Adam Franz] And employee turnover, right?

– [Andrew Kauser] Yeah.

– [Adam Franz] You got to be able to get those folks up and running as quick as possible, so time is money on these construction sites as well as manufacturing, so you’ve got to be able to shorten that timeframe and get them up and running. And that’s where the learning journey and simulators, I think that’s going to continue to shrink that gap.

– [Andrew Kauser] Right. Absolutely.

How is the cost of simulation being addressed?

– [Ben Hengst] What are companies doing then to address the cost of industrial trading? Like it’s still pretty new, I have to assume it’s not cheap.

– [Andrew Kauser] So it’s… Actually the cost of simulation is, as I mentioned before, from a technology standpoint, it’s getting more efficient. The price point on headsets, the price point on actually development is coming down pretty significantly. So PWC did a analysis and they’re showing that in parity with instructor-led training, you need to get about 375 students trained in simulation. So from a cost point, you’re even with instructor-led training at above the 375 students, you’re even with e-learning at about 2,000 students. So it is really not as expensive anymore as it used to be. The real barrier is that is getting the technology into the field and having it managed by the end customer. And there’s still some clunkiness around that that needs to be resolved to a certain extent. We’re facilitating that by just offering it as a bundle, as part of our solution. But many customers try and figure out, “Well, how many headsets am I going to have? Where are they going to be warehoused? Who’s going to manage them?” All that type of stuff. And that can be some of the barrier for sure.

– [Adam Franz] And you understand the equipment that we’re talking about here. These are serious pieces of equipment that they are simulating or working with. And I think that that from a cost perspective, you know, if you go have 10 brand new cranes in your fleet and you dump a crane ’cause you have the incorrect training, I mean, that’s paid for how many simulators. So we don’t want to look at it from a cost of, it’s got to be looked at from like a 10,000 foot view of, “Okay, where are my opportunities because I have a fleet that’s worth $500 million. Well, okay. To ensure the success of our organization.” That’s where you see a lot of people are on board already. Those people that really look at it from a 10,000 foot view. It’s not all them, this one simulator’s going to cost me X, right? So how many people can they put through that program and integrate that into their training culture?

– [Andrew Kauser] Right. We’re working with companies right now that have very large construction programs and they’re erecting a half dozen cranes. And the cost of that in comparison to a piece of hardware for simulation is nothing, right?

How can you learn more about ITI VR and AR training?

– [Ben Hengst] Thanks, guys for joining us. So, Andrew, how can people get ahold of you?

– [Andrew Kauser] So best way is really go to our website, www.iti.com. It’s that simple.

– [Ben Hengst] OK, be sure to visit iti.com. And as always, you can get ahold of me, Adam, or any of our other experts at mazzellacompanies.com. Don’t forget to pop into our learning center, we have a ton of information there. You can subscribe to, “Safety Factor” wherever you listen to your podcast. You can also check it out on the, “Lifting & Rigging Channel” on YouTube. Thanks for watching and stay safe out there.