Using VR to boost maritime safety
Warsash Maritime School at Solent University, Southampton, UK has teamed up with the Centre for Factories of the Future (C4FF) to develop safety training using virtual reality.
Funded to the tune of £338,158 by Innovate UK, the project will use VR simulations of ship areas – engine rooms, cargo compartments, tanks and other enclosed spaces – to create challenging scenarios such as fires and gas leaks for an immersive ‘hands-on’ experience.
“Operations in enclosed and confined spaces are associated with lots of risks stemming from multiple hazards,” said Solent University project lead, Captain Nadeem Anwar, senior lecturer – petrochemical at Warsash Maritime School.
“But apart from a few training courses like firefighting, the training remains primarily theoretical, and audio-video based at best.”
Warsash Maritime School’s experts will help determine the scenarios and safe procedures for shipboard activities relating to enclosed spaces, air quality monitoring, use of personal protective equipment, fire-fighting techniques and comms.
C4FF will then create the VR training packages, which Solent will ensure match the scenarios and procedures provided before validating.
“To give the trainees an immersive experience and realistic visualisation of the hazards, virtual reality will go a long way in embedding the required awareness, knowledge and skills for operations in such environments,” said Anwar.
