Immersive Virtual Reality Training Platforms Powered by Digital Twin Technologies: The Smartcut Case Study

The high costs associated with implementing and maintaining a training program based on immersive Virtual Reality (VR) technologies are a barrier to its adoption and widespread. This paper presents an Immersive VR training platform that intends to overcome such barriers. The Immersive VR platform was developed based on a real-usage case study conducted with an industry adopter. The case scenario focuses on training in the operation and maintenance of excavator machines. The industry partner has participated in the whole Immersive VR platform creation process, from conceptualization to its evaluation and validation. The Immersive VR training platform comprises two main modules: an authoring tool for an easy creation/update of training scenarios that supports industry-standard 3D models to ensure that they are continually updated when new products are released to the market and the training simulators that allow running training sessions regarding operation and maintenance of forestry machines. An exploratory usability evaluation of the training simulators created with the Authoring Tool revealed them as viable, validating the immersive VR platform. Limitations and future research directions are discussed to pave the way in this application field.