PORTFOLIO / VIRTUAL REALITY
Railway Electricians
VR Training
Railway Switch Drive Repair and Maintenance Course
PORTFOLIO / VIRTUAl REALITY
Railway Electricians
VR Training
VR Training
Client
Russian Railways / Novatrans R&D Center
Task
Use VR technologies to provide basic training in repair and maintenance of a railroad switch drive
Solution
VR Simulator for HTC Vive
RESULT
We presented VR Simulator Prototype to Russian Railways executives at the TransZhAT 2016 Expo in Rostov-on-Don. It was well received by experts. Both executive managers and technical professionals recognized the great level of authenticity and noted how realistic work procedures look. Usability and efficiency of these training solutions are so apparent that they leave no room for doubt. Therefore, they almost at once decided to introduce the product to training of Russian Railways signaling service technicians. Similar solutions are to be developed for other services and departments too.
How We Did It?
Our goal was to make not just a 'wow' product but a useful professional training course. Therefore, we researched ins and outs of a railway technician's job, studied design and operating modes of railroad switches and drives, their special features. We started with visiting real railway stations and learning about railroad switches. Then the customer invited us to the Assembly and Repair Shop to look at the drives. As a result, we took a great number of photos, videos, and audio materials, which we further used for writing a training script. Industry's experts meticulously analyzed our script. We took into consideration all their comments.
Milestones
Fieldwork
Learning job basics, analyzing traditional educational resources, consulting with the industry's experts
Taking Photos, Video and Audio Materials at Railway Facilities
Visiting real railway facilities with real technicians.
Taking photos and shooting videos. Recording noises and dialogs.
Taking photos and shooting videos. Recording noises and dialogs.
Writing a Step-by-Step Script
for VR Simulation
for VR Simulation
Working together with industry's experts and signaling service technicians. Studying standards and regulations.
3D Modeling
Studying diagrams, drawings, photos, and video recordings.
Hi-Poly & Lo-Poly Modeling of all objects and surroundings, characters and tools. Texturing. Rigging. Model preparation and optimization for Unity.
Hi-Poly & Lo-Poly Modeling of all objects and surroundings, characters and tools. Texturing. Rigging. Model preparation and optimization for Unity.
Scene Building
Scene building with Unity. Setup of materials, lights, post effects, baked animation, and background sounds and noises.
Logic Programming
Script coding.
Testing on Actual Technicians
Final testing on actual technicians in order to check authenticity and realism of recreated work procedures.