M4 Master Gefahr erkannt, Gefahr gebannt

Our team is proud of the progress achieved during this semester. We see it as a good foundation for future development.

Furthermore during our user tests we were able to verify what we already assumed: there is a strong request for VR applications to enrich current safety training lessons. User testing was also especially helpful to gather valuable feedback, which we used to generate even more ideas for improvement.

Other than that, our brainstormed ideas were too plentiful for just one semesters time. This is why we are eager to tackle features like the following in the upcoming semester.

The current state of our prototype uses the DamageFX shader asset pack to visualize drilling operation results.

Since these are purely visual and not truly “physical” demonstrations of holes being drilled into workpieces or perhaps the players hand, we would like to reproduce our enhancement results from the realtime mesh splitting algorithm used for cutting, to offer the same smooth and performant experience while drilling.

Based on user feedback and our desire to enlarge the scope of the workshop environment for a more holistic experience, the addition of related machines and tools represents a meaningful next step.

During user interviews the lathe turned out to be the most required. Although we already found several applications focussing on this machine during research phase of our project, none of the products found had injury simulation as their core strength. This and the integration into a coherent workshop environment display an pursuable unique selling proposition.

During our visits to the workshops and user testing we were presented with a lot of stories of how horrendously bad things can become while interacting with machines. We are fully aware that, with the options implemented so far, we only just met the tip of the iceberg. For this reason, we would like to further dive into this topic in order to show trainees even more how abundant injury possibilities at their workplace are.

What especially caught our attention, was the extra need for people with long hair, like the female trainees we met during testing, to tie it up, to prevent it from getting drawn into machines. Depicting this threat realistically while trying to preserve a pleasant player experience would be the key points to take into account here.

As part of our user testing feedback and from interviews with the trainers, we learned that the biggest causes for improper handling of machines, and thus for injuries, are distractions and over-confidence due to long time work experience. The first one ranging from coworkers just chatting nearby to unexpected events, leading to briefly not paying attention.

Implementing cases of distractions by NPC colleagues or game world events and consequently helping trainees to evaluate their behaviour and reactions in a safe (virtual) space would constitute a great addition to our application.