Virtual environment increases performance of personnel in industry
Organisations operating in the maritime and offshore exploration and production sectors face two different problems, relating to the training and assessment systems required to ensure people engaged in safety-critical work activities, perform competently and consistently under all situations. Firstly, sending teams of employees to traditional simulation centres is expensive and often logistically impracticable. Secondly, traditional simulation equipment is expensive and specific to particular installations or vessels. To confront these, the DISCOVER project seeks to design, develop and validate collaborative virtual reality for developing the competence of individuals located at remote sites. In order to achieve this, virtual reality based simulation will be demonstrated to be used effectively to develop the competence of personnel located at remote sites. Furthermore, traditional simulation centres and training will be provided, with experience in using collaborative virtual reality based simulations for delivering training and assessment services. In addition, managers in organisations will be equipped with tools for developing and assessing the competence of personnel in safety-critical situations and improving working procedures. Finally, best practice guidance and experience in developing and using virtual reality based multi-user environments will be developed, designed for teams of employees. To achieve these aims, DISCOVER comprises of safety-critical training delivered using a collaborative virtual environment, which supports a pedagogic model, configurable for both offshore and marine safety-critical training. The DISCOVER theory module will cover the teaching of theory delivered in traditional incident management training courses and will utilise case study materials provided by the industry to reinforce learning. Sample training scenarios are included, embodying key competence.