Wärtsilä Launches Smart Realities VR Training Solution

Wärtsilä Voyage, part of the technology group Wärtsilä, launches Smart Realities a fully immersive extended reality (XR) training and assessment solution for ship handling, bridge and marine engineering applications

According to Wärtsilä, Smart Realities applications can transform the way that maritime educational content is delivered, enhancing student learning and engagement, and inspiring a new generation of tech-savvy mariners as the shipping industry continues to adopt the latest intelligent and green technologies. The solution combines today’s technology with 25 years of experience in hi-fidelity hydrodynamical, mathematical and physical modelling to deliver the level of realism that is critical for knowledge growth and retention in complex maneuvers and operations, the company said.

“There is little doubt that Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality applications will soon become an indispensable part of future volume training both as co-located and distributed learning. Smart Realities solutions are an essential extension of the Wärtsilä Simulation platform, utilising existing validated exercises, ship models and visual areas, and having all of the available instructional tools that simulation operators expect and need to achieve their learning objectives,” said Johan Ekvall, Head of Product, Simulation and Training at Wärtsilä Voyage. “By providing multi-player capability, instructors can enter the virtual environment with the learners, or collaborative scenarios can be achieved from remote locations, offering an incredible opportunity to enable significantly better learning with technology.”

“I believe that Smart Realities create added value to the training programs which are already in place here at The Maritime Skills Academy. There's a strong focus on situational awareness and decision making. The solution creates real-life immersive environments to make a simulation of the operations performed on board any ship, and the lifelike scenarios improve learning retention, job performance and team collaboration. We’re very pleased with the results and unique learning approaches Smart Realities have brought us,” said Capt. Josip Kulas, Director of Training & Simulation, The Maritime Skills Academy.

Smart Realities is a versatile solution that can be applied in almost all technologies in navigation, engineering, and other training fields, Wärtsilä  said. It can be added as an extension of an existing simulator to complement it with bridge-wing scenario and other layouts or set up as a stand-alone, or portable solution.