XR Training for skilled craft

It is a fact that more and more young people choose a university degree over an apprenticeship, or a skilled craft job. (Source: bmwi, German only) Reasons for this include the perceived lack of attractiveness of many trades and the image of having been left behind in the digital age.

We believe that skilled crafts will hugely benefit from employing the latest technologies such as Mixed Reality (XR). The possibilities here range from trend-setting advertising to attract newcomers to the profession up to the digitalization of training and innovative support for skilled craft in everyday work situations.

The BBIB study: What Makes Training in Skilled Craft Attractive (German only) shows that many young people initially underestimate the potential and quality of skilled occupations. However, their perceived attractiveness increases with increasing knowledge of the occupations!

How to overcome this initial hurdle? With mixed reality experiences, companies are improving their recruiting marketing, for example to highlight the diversity and creative design possibilities of a certain occupation. This could be a simulated work process in which typical work steps are presented in a simplified form. Even a heavy piece of equipment can be used virtually at training fairs (e.g. driving a crane or operating a chain saw) in order to spark the enthusiasm of the audience for using such tools in playful training courses.

With the help of gamified simulations of such work processes, the attention at a trade show stand increases and, moreover, the fear of contact with otherwise dangerous or seemingly difficult work dissipates.

… and creating a secure environment to try things out.

Compared to conventional media or dry textbooks, VR training enables an intensive, practice-oriented learning experience that directly links knowledge transfer with physical work and the corresponding movements. In this way, what has been learned is anchored more efficiently and can later be retrieved more easily. Read more in our article VR Training for Companies.

This type of training also has the advantage that various training scenarios can be set up completely independently of location. Whether on a construction site, in a forestry operation or in an industrial plant, trainers and trainees can meet in a networked and remote environment. And this saves costs: For the virtual lessons, production processes are neither interrupted, nor machines blocked. Expensive materials don’t have to be used. And the danger of injury is practically non-existent in VR.

To efficiently track learning progress, the correct execution of work steps is automatically checked. In this way, errors can be pointed out more quickly, without additional workload for the training personnel.

Mixed reality technologies offer multiple application possibilities in manual work processes. For example, in virtual pre-visualization for planning and customer consulting. "The use of virtual reality is a sensational opportunity for almost all planning and executing skilled craft such as construction, plumbing and heating technology or our trade, the carpentry trade, to offer our customers not only an impression of space but also a spatial experience," says Danny Hammer, Managing Director of Hammer & Margrander Interior GmbH in Ettlingen in an interview with ZDH (German only).

The initial effort of 3D data acquisition required for this is worthwhile for the companies several times over. The data can be used in various applications, from planning to production plant, to facilitate production and coordination processes in the future and set new standards in terms of precision and efficiency.

In maintenance and assembly, digital tools such as step-by-step instructions, 3D measurement systems or remote assistance systems with position-correct display of important additional information can also help make tasks easier, safer, faster and of higher quality.