ITI Develops Virtual Reality Mobile Crane Simulator
September 28, 2016 - Industrial Training International (ITI) has development a virtual reality (VR) mobile crane simulator product, which it plans to formally unveil at ConExpo-Con/Agg in March 2017. The VR Mobile Crane Simulator product development began in August 2016 following an ITI Customer Advisory Meeting held at Mammoet USA headquarters in Rosharon, Texas.
“We have been interested in simulation-based training solutions for several years and had nearly purchased our own simulators to distribute to customers and use in training," said ITI president Zack Parnell. "We principally decided against these investments, as we didn’t believe existing simulators would deliver enough value to our customers at the costs required, mainly due to high price points and the inability to process enough trainees in a given year because of general immobility. A survey we conducted earlier this year asked simulator owners their opinions about their experience, and they reflected negatively on a few aspects we hope to remedy with our VR simulator development.”
Serious Labs Inc. has been selected as ITI’s development partner for a planned library of crane and rigging-related simulations that has commenced in August 2016 with the mobile crane simulator.
“As VR was becoming commercially viable earlier this year with Oculus Rift and others headset manufacturers, we began looking for experts on the cutting-edge of that space as we believe the user experience and low distribution cost of VR makes it a winner for our customers. We could not have found a better partner than Serious Labs,” said Parnell.
- Provide an incomparable, totally immersive user experience.
- Remove barriers to entry with a subscription model and low capital costs.
- Open up simulator training to all applicable team members by making access and utilization simpler than ever before.
These deliverables will be accomplished through the following features:
- Growing Course Library—In addition to the initial simulations available in the library, additional planned simulations include overhead cranes, tower cranes, rigging, and assembly/disassembly of cranes.
- Equipment—The ITI Mobile Crane Simulator leverages the technology of VR to allow a fully immersive experience that lays two inches away from the user’s eyes.
- Desktop & Motion-Base Versions—Two hardware models are available a fully mobile desktop version and an immersive, though still mobile, Motion-Base Simulator.
- Learning Management & LMS Integration—Integrate ITI VR training with your current learning management system enabling employee training paths, and could be used for candidate screening, operator qualification, and record keeping.
ITI is accepting reservations for both hardware models at this time. Both the Desktop and Motion-Base hardware packages can be reserved for $1,000. A Beta-Version Reservation is also available in which customers can immediately receive their computer system and Oculus Rift VR headset to participate in the development process by experiencing the simulations in development.
