Back to search

MAROFF-2-Maritim virksomhet og offsh-2

Innovating maritime training simulators using Virtual and Augmented Reality (InnoTraining)

Alternative title: Nyskaping av maritime treningssimulatorer gjennom utvidet bruk av Virtuell og Utvidet virkelighet

Awarded: NOK 6.5 mill.

Project Manager:

Project Number:

269424

Project Period:

2017 - 2022

The primary aim of the Innotraining project was to advance maritime simulators and training by adopting and developing extended reality (XR) technologies for education. The project has developed two Future Training Simulator (FTS) prototypes using Virtual Reality (VR), technology namely, VR bridge simulator and advanced firefighting, search and rescue simulator. The advanced firefighting, search and rescue simulator is already commercialized (K-Sim safety). The VR bridge simulator includes advanced performance assessment and feedback tools with eye-tracking capabilities which can track users' eye positions (gaze tracking) while they operate the simulator. The validity of these simulators was assessed through empirical experiments and the results are being disseminated for the benefit of the scientific community. The global XR market is changing rapidly and a need for training solutions for «distance learning» and making simulators available in the cloud is now sought after. the learnings from the project have contributed to advancing knowledge in this area and work has been initiated to evaluate new platforms suitable for VR use in the cloud environment.

Outcome: -Research reports covering state of the art in VR technology and VR applications in professional training -FTS VR-prototypes covering different areas of maritime training -Eye-tracking based objective performance assessment methodology for evaluating student performance -Empirical validation of the FTS prototypes through experiments comparing with the existing simulators -Valuable knowledge wrt enabling VR-tech.in cloud environment. Impact: The project has accelerated innovation in MET by advancing state of the art in maritime simulators through the use of VR tech. Results from the project will have an impact on upcoming simulator products in maritime industry and also on other safety-critical domains that rely on simulators for delivering training. Also, the COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the need for remote training solutions that could still provide opportunities for realistic training. This has further strengthened the value of the project and its outcomes.

Lack of necessary competence and skills may result in inadequate, unsafe actions, which potentiate vulnerabilities of the systems and sequentially bring about human, environmental, financial, legal, and reputational losses. Efficient training is therefore critically required for dealing with both of the routine and non-routine situations. Simulator training has seen its growth and effectiveness since last two decades. Other domains e.g., process, nuclear, medicine and aviation have embraced and integrated the recent technological development into training simulators, maritime sector is still lagging behind. We are proposing to move a step further in the world of maritime training simulators by integrating recent technological development from Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality. InnoTraining aims at providing flexible, technologically enhanced, intuitive, effective training and performance assessment solutions. An implicit objective of the project is to harness the potential of virtual and artificial experiences. In concrete terminology, this will allow us to create a virtual environment in which maritime operators can train and develop their technical and collaborative skills required to ensure safe and efficient operations. Following research challenges need to be solved to reach proposed Future Training Simulator (FTS). How to interface and integrate existing maritime training simulator with VR headset? How to deploy AR into virtual environment for enhanced learning? How to combine and interface virtual and augmented Reality to develop first prototype of FTS? How to develop method for evaluating performance in FTS? What are the most suitable means of interaction with digital and real components in FTS? What is the effectiveness of FTS i.e. learning learning outcome of FTS as compared to traditional simulators. How to reach a final product from all findings in aforementioned challenges.

Funding scheme:

MAROFF-2-Maritim virksomhet og offsh-2