(132a) Virtual Reality in the Context of Training Frontline Workers and the Process Industries

The purpose of this abstract is to share knowledge around the value of applying virtual reality when training process industries frontline workers.

The application of these technologies helps to attract talent and to maintain workforce through reuse of digital twins. Time to proficiency and quality improvements are directly enhanced and derived from leveraging gamification concepts in virtual training systems. The example case that will be presented is available for academia and industry professionals to visit in person at a US government funded innovation institute, where an example mobile worker and digital twin testbed has been built in collaboration with a leading US chemical company.

Moving from classrooms settings that center around slides, videos, pen and paper, and other traditional testing or training approaches to gamified virtual reality makes a difference both in learning velocity and sustaining best practices. Manual sequences are best learnt in an immersive but safe environment, learning by doing assembly work, such as mounting, dismounting, cleaning, draining, and the execution of maintenance tasks. Virtual training also serves different service providers both in the initial training as well as refresher trainings.

Ancillary savings around on-boarding, travel, information access, value chain collaboration, and training the trainers complete the operational benefits of increased safety, quality, productivity, and operations in general. Recommended for early career professionals, academia, industry professional both at plants and in the value chain.