Virtual Reality Industrial Training wins best project award

September 16, 2021

VizExperts, a leader in Industrial Virtual and Augmented Reality, has been awarded for the “Best project in Government Category” during the Systems Integration India Awards, 2021. A pioneer in AR/VR and immersive technologies for Industrial Transformation, VizExperts has been actively delivering integrated solutions to address the needs of large industrial enterprises.

NTPC’s Digital Training Initiative

As part of their Digital initiatives, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) decided to transform their technical training using Virtual Reality to provide immersive training to NTPC personnel deployed at various power plants across India. Key objectives of the project include:

  • Improve training effectiveness by incorporating “learning by doing” methodology
  • Reduced need for travel to PMI Noida for training courses
  • Reduce cost & risks involved with traditional physical training methods

The outcome is one of the largest VR training deployments in India with country-wide deployment across NTPC plants & regional learning institutes (RLIs).

The Execution

The project involved turnkey design, development, deployment & training of VR based training solution at NTPC. This consisted of two main parts:

  • Design & development of software modules & content for VR training
  • Delivery & integration of VR hardware including 40 HTC Vive Pro & 36 Oculus Quest units

The project involved the following key activities:

  • Consulting with NTPC trainers on training requirements. A total of 50 modules were identified & designed including storyboards, content & assets.
  • 3D scanning & processing of power plant assets to create digital assets to be used in the VR training modules
  • Implementation of interactive VR training modules that allow users to get the necessary instructions and execute them on a step by step basis. The modules include voice instructions in Hindi & English languages.

 

The Challenge

Due to the diverse nature of stakeholders, ensuring that the project delivered to everyone’s expectations, was a huge challenge. The trainers at NTPC along with supervisors and trainees, all had to be satisfied with the delivered content. 

In addition, there were logistics challenges as the data acquisition teams had to visit NTPC power plants. These plants are at extremely remote locations including Vindhyachal & Sipat. 

The system integration aspect was another challenge since the content was expected to run on two very different VR devices – the HTC Vive, which runs on a PC and the Oculus Quest, which is an Android based standalone headset.

The Road to Success

VizExperts team followed a strict process of design, develop, iterate & finalize. Storyboards for each training procedure were created strictly as per the information provided to VizExperts consultants. Only after the approvals of the storyboards, was the content development done. Even after that, many times changes were required to the content. The teams patiently iterated on the requested changes and incorporated them based on user feedback.

NTPC has been able to digitize the training on 50 modules including extremely difficult modules like Working at heights, Working in confined spaces, Complex machine operational workflows, etc. As one can imagine, many of these require experiential training to become comfortable with the work environments. However, doing these training physically can be extremely risky & cost prohibitive. 

NTPC is now able to train their personnel locally at the power plants with a homogenous training platform. All subjectivity around the training & evaluation methodology has been eliminated due to the digital & consistent learning experience delivered to trainees.

In summary, NTPC is now able to save costs, improve training effectiveness & reduce risks. Note that the complete project was finished in much lesser time (by almost 50%) then what was allocated by the client.

The project was inaugurate by the Executive Director HR at NTPC. The VizExperts team received substantial applause for their efforts

About VizExperts

VizExperts is a pioneer and market leader in Virtual & Augmented Reality technology. Collaborating with Industrial enterprises, VizExperts team helps them improve efficiencies and delight customers with immersive design reviews, training and customer experiences. VizExperts’ list of clients includes prestigious Government & Enterprise organizations in Shipbuilding, Energy, Aerospace, Automotive, Industrial Equipment & Engineering Education. For further information or business enquiries, please contact info@vizexperts.com or call / WhatsApp on +1-646-338-3653 or +91-98185-15641

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