Cat Develops VR Safety Training System

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The scenarios in the Cat Safety VR module train construction workers to wear protective gear and work safely around machinery and traffic. (Image courtesy of Caterpillar.)

Road construction is a dangerous job, especially for workers on foot next to speeding traffic. In order to train new employees in a safer environment than an actual job site, Caterpillar came up with its first Virtual Reality (VR) safety training module.

“Given the industries we serve and the hazards workers face in those industries, having a safe alternative to real-world training is important,” says Caterpillar Safety Services general manager, Zach Knoop. “Numerous studies have shown memory retention to be higher with VR than through more traditional training methods.”

Safety Lessons, Matrix-Style

When you put on the kit’s VR goggles and pick up the hand controls, Cat Safety VR puts you in a virtual four-lane highway project that’s taking place next to live traffic, like many such worksites around the country.

You’ll go through five immersive scenarios over the next 20 to 30 minutes, learning how to work around unpredictable, high-speed traffic; recognize blind spots and deal with them; move around and between equipment in a safe manner; and communicate with your fellow workers in a more effective way, which is crucial in a hazardous environment. You’ll also experience a scenario about reasons to always wear personal protective equipment (PPE) onsite.

The overriding theme of the module is that no matter what kind of unexpected situations occur on the jobsite, you should never deal with them in a way that risks anyone’s safety, including your own.

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The portable Cat Safety VR training kit comes with an HTC VIVE virtual reality headset, hand controls, and a laptop computer to run the simulation. (Photo courtesy of Caterpillar.)

A Portable Kit

The Cat Safety VR kit comes with an HTC VIVE virtual reality headset, hand controls, and a laptop computer to run the simulation. There’s also a mount stand kit and a case to carry it all in.

Cat says roadside paving is just the beginning for the Safety VR system. “The program can be adapted to meet the needs of specific customers, industries, and applications,” Knoop says.

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Source: Caterpillar