Could the best in modern virtual reality gaming—minus things like zombies, light sabers and black ops weaponry—transform training and development for today’s industrial workforce, including at offshore oil and gas rigs, pulp and paper facilities and pharmaceutical manufacturing plants?
Honeywell, a Fortune 100 conglomerate that has helped industrial manufacturers improve workforce competencies and capabilities since 2017, is betting on it. Its newly-unveiled Immersive Field Simulator is a virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality-based training tool that incorporates a digital twin, or precise replica of a physical plant that is updated in real-time, to create a collaborative learning environment for plant operators and field technicians.
Think avatars representing team members and realistic 3D visuals, similar to popular multiplayer games like Call of Duty, that help workers navigate a plant layout or practice complex tasks—turning valves, pressing buttons—before tackling them IRL (in real life). Workers learn to handle customized operating and safety scenarios, wearing the latest in virtual reality headgear while connected to a cloud-hosted, device-agnostic platform, says Vincent Higgins, global director of technology and innovation for Honeywell.
