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    1. Construction Lifting & Concrete Placement

    Genie Adds VR to Training Courses

    Feb. 23, 2024
    VR training is available for train-the-trainer courses.
    Related To: Genie Industries
    Genie
    Genie VR training allows operators to control a Genie Z-45 FE articulated boom lift in four training scenarios designed to assist with control familiarization and operation.
    Genie VR training allows operators to control a Genie Z-45 FE articulated boom lift in four training scenarios designed to assist with control familiarization and operation.

    Genie has added a virtual reality component to its classroom and hands-on training programs.

    Genie VR training allows operators to control a Genie Z-45 FE articulated boom lift in four training scenarios designed to assist with control familiarization and operation. Trainees wear specially programmed headsets.

    Read also: Telehandler training simulator package released

    “We invested in this new training platform to positively enhance the training we provide and to prepare people for the actual scenarios they could encounter in the field,” said Scott Owyen, training director, in a statement. “It’s not just a cool gimmick: It enhances learning and, therefore, safety.”

    Four Genie VR Training Experiences

    • Operations, which helps users gain familiarity with the lift’s controls;
    • The Ghost Arena, which challenges operators to precisely position the machine to match a given outline;
    • The Safety Gauntlet, a course that encourages users to navigate a virtual jobsite and avoid real-life hazards to collect trophies; and
    • A Steel Erector simulator, which requires positioning the boom to weld steel beams onto a structure.

    VR training will initially be offered as an add-on to Genie’s train-the-trainer courses, which are more in-depth than operator qualification training. Genie’s train-the-trainer courses prepare an individual to teach operator training, and include a review of applicable standards and regulations, instruction on the training materials, time with actual equipment doing pre-operational inspections, functions tests, and practice operating the equipment. The courses can also be used as operator qualification training. The train-the-trainer class takes 8 to 12 hours to complete, and the VR experience will add about an hour to that.

    VR training will not be offered as a stand-alone class or as a substitute to in-person training, Owyen said.

    Genie
    VR training will initially be offered as an add-on to Genie’s train-the-trainer courses, which are more in-depth than operator qualification training.
    VR training will initially be offered as an add-on to Genie’s train-the-trainer courses, which are more in-depth than operator qualification training.

    “While VR training feels very realistic, it simply can’t replace that real-world experience,” he said. “But, allowing someone to practice what they’ve learned in a classroom, before going up in a lift, not only makes what they’ve learned more memorable, it enhances safety. That’s because, in a virtual world, you can experience a catastrophe without actually getting hurt. And, because the brain thinks it actually happened, it is an incredibly emotional and impressionable way to learn.”

    How was the Genie VR Experience developed?

    The visuals in the VR experience were developed by utilizing Genie CAD drawings, real world specifications, performance characteristics, videos of equipment operating, and sound recordings of an actual Z-45 FE lift. Genie chose headsets that are highly portable and offer superior graphics, as well as customized refresh rates that mirrors how we see things in real-life to reduce chances that a participant will experience motion sickness.

    “We chose to make the training self-contained to ensure robust performance,” Owyen said. “It doesn’t rely on internet access, and we can take them to our customers, rather than requiring someone to come to us. That might be out in the oil fields, underground in a salt mine, or any number of places with unreliable internet.”

    Source: Genie

    About the Author

    Rod Sutton

    Sutton has served as the editorial lead of Construction Equipment magazine and ConstructionEquipment.com since 2001. 

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