Corporate Training Magazine

3D Simulations: Bringing a New Dimension to Business
Vol 2 Issue 3- May 2006

By Mark Robbins

When persons have the ability to actively participate in the learning process, they become not only visually engaged, but intellectually stimulated as well. This type of participation incites the cognitive processes like no other.

"Next to hands-on participation," said Allan Doubinin of 3DInternet, "visual learning is the best direct venue in today's training market by providing the ability to capture attention, inspire thought and increase information retention."

3D training simulations take this one step further, by offering exciting and unique customized 'learning by doing' environments. This approach makes the process entirely interactive, with the participant learning through their own setbacks as well as achievements. The material and information presented is learned at an accelerated pace and retention is significantly enhanced.

Immersive 3D environments stimulate a greater number of senses as compared to traditional instructional methods.

Doubinin explained, "It's like teaching someone to drive a car. In a classroom, you describe how to operate a vehicle and maneuver this on the road, but until the individual is actually put behind the wheel this knowledge is not fully practical. With 3D simulations, students have the opportunity to visually experience everything that they are learning while at the same time garnering information and listening to audio feedback. Navigating through the environment and performing tasks individually increases the ability to retain all they've been taught."

Simulations immerse the learner within the instructional environment. The individual is given the ability to navigate through virtual settings while learning specific job requirements and/or skills.

From an industry standpoint on safety, it gives the learner the opportunity to experience the actual equipment, the worksite and potential hazards and affords them the opportunity to learn what happens while carrying out certain job tasks.

Not only does this instill a greater awareness of safety on the job, but it gives the learner an added feeling of self-confidence knowing that they've had the chance to become familiar with the environment and surroundings long before actually placed in the field. This is especially important for employees in hands-on, high-risk activities and situations where hazards, resulting in injury or destruction of property are potential repercussions of mistakes.

Doubinin recounted, "One recent project was to create a training simulation of an electrical switching station. To make the simulation more relevant and effective, the station was visited to permit designers to create an exact replica in a virtual environment.

"Every aspect was reproduced down to the smallest detail - electrical towers, panels, switching boxes. The aim was to let employees learn what to do even before they set foot on the worksite. They're able to learn and practice all the necessary procedures and become aware of the hazards, but in a safe virtual environment so they'll be prepared when physically entering the actual site," he added.

The simulation includes an instruction module as well as different levels of testing. The instruction module alerts learners immediately if an error occurs and allows them to correct it before moving on. The next level of testing takes employees through the entire scenario before reporting their results. A third option is to have the simulator stop altogether if a fatal error such as an explosion occurs.

In this event, the individual would have to restart the simulation from the beginning. This permits them to see firsthand the cause and effect of certain actions. These results can be tracked and recorded for future reference.

There is also an additional certification level of the simulator that can be used for job testing purposes. The Certification Simulator lets the learner navigate through a task without guidance or teaching tools. A randomization of settings can be applied; meaning that a simulation will not run the same twice and its outcome be predictable. At the end of each Certification Simulator there is a summary of results which tracks performance. The results can be received by a learning management system (LMS).

To overcome bandwidth issues, data is compressed through proprietary filters permitting faster and greatly enhanced download times. And once the training simulation has been downloaded, it can be launched as many times as desired without having to re-download it to your computer.

The operating effectiveness of an online simulation is also undaunted by bandwidth. Regardless of whether the file takes one second, or one minute to download, it will perform just as well in the end. Once the simulator is installed, there is no difference in the speed at which you navigate within the environment or the functionality of that simulation. These training tools can be incorporated into courses, online manuals and websites for ease of access. They can also be used as a, presentation tool and distributed via CDs and DVDs.

Simulations can also be used in an endless number of business applications outside of the learning and training environment. One such application comes from 3DInternet's proprietary 'Drag & Drop' technology.

This technology allows a user to select and drag objects in a three-dimensional space. The user is able to interact with objects and place and move these, as well as select and move items already present within the scene. The application can be used by event planners and convention centers for designing and developing the physical layout of events. They have the ability to completely set up a room with chairs, tables, seating arrangements and much more. This gives the added bonus of demonstrating to a client how an event will be staged before arriving at a convention, as well as deciphering the number of chairs and tables needed or indicating fire code rules for hallways.

The Drag & Drop technology can also be used for store layouts, office buildings and new home design. Visually check to see if a desk will fit in a certain area, optimize your office layout, or view and change cabinets, flooring, and appliances. Even colors and textures to illustrate what schemes look most appealing or what materials suit your model best.

"We've also used this technology to develop a 3D shopping cart tool. In this application the user can walk through the aisles of a store and drag and drop items off the shelves and into the shopping cart. This combines the realistic simulation of a shopping experience with the convenience of home use," stated Doubinin.

It's one thing to replicate an existing environment, the company has learned first-hand that it's an entirely different and more challenging experience when 'working blind', as was the case with one of their most ambitious projects for a firm in Saudi Arabia.

"We were approached to build a computer-generated representation of an existing plant in Saudi Arabia, including other planned expansions," said Doubinin. "The client wanted to display what the completed physical additions would look like and incorporate this into a presentation to be used internally as a proposal for a project phase."

Elements such as voice-overs and text overlays were employed to outline aspects such as flow capacity and injection pressures as well as process steps and decontamination procedures.

"The obstacle our designers faced was the fact that they had no visuals to work with, because all of the expansion areas had yet to be built. This posed quite a challenge and required us to take a number of critical design steps to ensure a finished quality product," recounted Doubinin.

Gathering reference materials and other visual aids, modelers began to construct the components using reference and spec sheets as well as heavily converted CAD geometry. Textures and shading were also generated to simulate the physical surroundings and additional media such as particle effects were included.

Effects were produced to mimic water, and the flow of oil and gas. Fly-throughs were rendered of the facilities to exhibit key points and procedures as well as structures, and realistic lighting able to simulate both daylight and shadows.

As the technology continues to develops, it will become more widespread and evident that 3D simulations can greatly aid companies with 'virtually everything, by doing everything virtually'.

For more information on applicationss of 3D simulations for your company, contact 3DInternet (www.3dinternet.com)