A new level of immersive seafarer training was introduced at a UK academy with ship masters and trainers given a demonstration of the future for practising ship-handling skills
Wärtsilä Voyage launched Smart Realities virtual and augmented simulation solutions for scalable and realistic seafarer training at the Maritime Skills Academy (MSA) in Portsmouth, UK.
On 21 April, Riviera Maritime Media representatives were given access to test these simulators, which combine augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies with physical simulators.
Riviera also watched ship captains and training institutes trial their skills on the simulator suite.
Wärtsilä Voyage developed this new simulator-based platform as a cost-effective, easily scalable and fully immersive extended reality for training.
Smart Realities uses less hardware than full suites of simulators, making it more accessible for training centres, shipowners and shipmanagers worldwide. It enables commercial training providers to increase the types of training they can offer and reduces the need for seafarers to travel to specialised academies.
The first of the training facilities available is for teaching and practising ship handling. This combines the physical propulsion controls seafarers would use on ships with VR goggles and simulator software.
As used by Riviera during the open day, the trainee puts on the VR headset and is immersed into a graphical representation of the ship’s bridge.
In the particular program seen by Riviera personnel, this was the bridge wing of a modern podded-propulsion cruise ship manoeuvring out of a terminal in Southampton, UK.
Smart Realities uses existing simulator content through unified software, ship models and sailing areas, enabling exercises to be shared between the different simulator mediums.
Wärtsilä Voyage head of product, simulation and training Johan Ekvall said Smart Realities will transform the way maritime educational content is delivered, enhancing student learning and engagement.
He said this will help inspire a new generation of tech-savvy mariners into the shipping industry and enable existing mariners to develop their skills, while encountering highly realistic true-to-life scenarios in a virtual risk-free environment.
“There is little doubt that virtual, augmented, and mixed reality applications will soon become an indispensable part of future training both as co-located and distributed learning,” Mr Ekvall said.
“Smart Realities solutions are an essential extension of the Wärtsilä simulation platform, using existing validated exercises, ship models and visual areas, and having all of the available instructional tools that simulation operators expect and need to achieve their learning objectives.”
There are multi-player capabilities enabling instructors to enter the virtual environment with the learners.
“Collaborative scenarios can be achieved from remote locations, offering an incredible opportunity to enable significantly better learning with technology,” said Mr Ekvall.
MSA Portsmouth is also hosting development of a Smart Realities version of an azimuth stern drive (ASD) tugboat navigation trainer which includes a Damen ASD tug bridge system with 360º screens and the VR headset.
“Smart Realities will create added value to the training programs which are already in place here at the MSA,” said MSA director of training and simulation Captain Josip Kulas.
“There is a strong focus on situational awareness and decision making. The solution creates real-life immersive environments to make a simulation of the operations performed on board any ship,” he said. “The lifelike scenarios improve learning retention, job performance and team collaboration.”
Smart Realities is a versatile solution that can be applied to almost all technologies in navigation, engineering and other training fields. It can be added as an extension of an existing simulator to complement it with bridge-wing scenarios and other layouts or set up as a stand-alone, portable solution.
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