VR Training that doesn't skimp on the wow factor

What does VR training offer to KLM employees?

It's a very valuable experience because you actually feel the heat of the fire. Our students go through the fire extinguishing protocol two at a time, and as soon as they put on their glasses, they immediately start giggling, but when the actual fire drill begins, their laughter turns into intense focus. They experience what it's like in a real-life situation: who does what and in what order? If the trainee makes one of the computer-animated passengers panic, it creates a learning effect that you don't get so quickly with other types of training.

What’s the process of creating a VR training?

We create all the training modules together with the subject matter experts from our organization. Because our office is at Schiphol airport, we can easily go to the hangars to scan and photograph specific objects to use in a story. We work with Blender 3D to create all the assets. We build all our training modules in Unity with the Photon package for multiplayer options.

What opportunities does VR training bring to the table?

VR is a logical choice for other training applications as well. Students use the fire safety and jetway bridge training KLM developed. They use it to practice as bridge operators, the people who place the passenger bridges against the aircraft at the airport. To accomplish this, we create an extensive library of all the assets we have in real life. From aircraft to luggage carts and dinner trays.

What impact does VR training have on the organisation?

We have an internal team with developers, a visual designer, Q&A testing and product owner. With this team, we can move fast and help a growing number of divisions within the company.

Many feel that VR will soon be standard within every division at KLM. At the moment, the team has several proofs of concept on the shelf, which are both groundbreaking and profitable. Because the continued development of VR stands or falls with added value. Despite the difficult period KLM is in, our VR teammates are looking ahead towards a bright and productive future.

What are the challenges you face with VR training?

The required hardware to view VR gets cheaper, but development is still costly. We constantly challenge ourselves to create something that adds value. This can be the wow factor for the student, but also the financial picture. At KLM, we use flight simulators to train our pilots. But do you really need to train every move in the simulator? Thanks to VR, they can practice a simple act such as starting the engine at home on the couch. This leaves more time in the simulator to practice very specific situations. Eventually, you can get by with less expensive time in the simulator.

What do you enjoy the most about VR training?

The reactions of students to VR are never dull. We recently had to set up an exercise for a ‘post evacuation on water’ scenario for safety and security training. In this situation, the crew must know exactly how to inflate a raft and fire a flare. Our challenge was to make this all seem as realistic as possible, and that required some creativity, but I think the wow effect we created is fantastic. Our students are immersed in the story as soon as they put on the VR goggles. This never gets boring to see.

In another case, one of the first VR trainings we made was called the ‘startle and surprise’ training for pilots. We wanted to use this to provoke a startle response, which requires immediate action from the pilot. Later we received emails from several pilots stating that they experienced situations from the training on board and that they were better prepared because of our training.