The official opening of the new simulation centre at the Home Team Academy (HTA) in Singapore is headlining several Singaporean newspapers and newschannels. Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam of Singapore opened the new simulation centre on Monday (May 21).
Show moreMr Shanmugam indicates at Channel News Asia: “The simulation will get the officers in-sync, and give them a hands-on feel as well as a relevance of command skills. We will need to strengthen Home Team integration, based on common values, a shared mission and the academy has a key role to play in that”.
During the past year XVR, together with the XVR Regional Support Centre operated by Coventry Enterprises Singapore, have worked hard to set up this state of the art simulation centre which brings together all XVR Simulation Platform modules into one single Simulation Suite. In the Simulation Suite, participants are confronted with 3D on scene images in the highly realistic virtual 3D environments.
In addition to the CCTV or on-scene views, trainees can use the XVR ‘Communications and Media’ module to view the internal and external information flow on websites, intranet, e-mail, Whatsapp and other communication means used during a real incident. The constructive simulation module XVR Resource Management provides the trainees and the exercise staff with a real-time overview of the location and activity status of all emergency resources in Singapore.
Newspaper The Straits Times also spoke with several participants who already trained in the new simulation centre. Staff Sergeant Siti Badariah of Tanglin Police Division says: “It’s as close to what we are going to experience on the ground. In real life, you won’t get a situation where just one thing is happening, especially if the area is big. The system gives us that option to try inject simultaneously”.
HTA has developed the system and scenario’s not only with the help of XVR Simulation but also aided by extensive police front-line experienced men like Deputy Superintendent Kenny Yeo. “As soon as the commander has decided how to deal with the first inject, we can prepare to release the second. We train a commander to multi-task.. how he can maintain an overview when two things are happening at the same time”.
A selection of 15 different scenarios has been prepared, all of which can be altered and intensified with the introduction of new elements, evolving based on the commanders’ decisions. Benefits of the simulator include manpower savings and increased training frequency, as it can mirror logistically intensive large-scale training exercises that come with deployment constraints.
During the past year XVR, together with the XVR Regional Support Centre operated by Coventry Enterprises Singapore, have worked hard to set up this state of the art simulation centre which brings together all XVR Simulation Platform modules into one single Simulation Suite. In the Simulation Suite, participants are confronted with 3D on scene images in the highly realistic virtual 3D environments.
In addition to the CCTV or on-scene views, trainees can use the XVR ‘Communications and Media’ module to view the internal and external information flow on websites, intranet, e-mail, Whatsapp and other communication means used during a real incident. The constructive simulation module XVR Resource Management provides the trainees and the exercise staff with a real-time overview of the location and activity status of all emergency resources in Singapore.
Newspaper The Straits Times also spoke with several participants who already trained in the new simulation centre. Staff Sergeant Siti Badariah of Tanglin Police Division says: “It’s as close to what we are going to experience on the ground. In real life, you won’t get a situation where just one thing is happening, especially if the area is big. The system gives us that option to try inject simultaneously”.
HTA has developed the system and scenario’s not only with the help of XVR Simulation but also aided by extensive police front-line experienced men like Deputy Superintendent Kenny Yeo. “As soon as the commander has decided how to deal with the first inject, we can prepare to release the second. We train a commander to multi-task.. how he can maintain an overview when two things are happening at the same time”.
A selection of 15 different scenarios has been prepared, all of which can be altered and intensified with the introduction of new elements, evolving based on the commanders’ decisions. Benefits of the simulator include manpower savings and increased training frequency, as it can mirror logistically intensive large-scale training exercises that come with deployment constraints.
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We are in Austria, at the Österreichisches Rotes Kreuz Steiermark (ÖRKS, the Austrian Red Cross) to officially award the Centre of Excellence status to Mag. Dr. Werner Weinhofer, the president of ÖRK Steiermark.
Founder and COO of XVR Simulation Steven Lohman together with president of the ÖRKS Mag. Dr. Werner Weinhofer
ÖRKS has been using XVR since 2011 and is continuously looking for ways to further improve their training centre. To learn more about their training efforts, we’re meeting with Helmut Aschbacher.
Helmut is the deputy head of operations at the ÖRKS. “It’s really great that we’ve been awarded the Centre of Excellence status. With it, we would like to anchor XVR more strongly in Steiermark and Austria, and with the status of Centre of Excellence, our visibility is greatly increased.”
“During the last seven years we’ve fully integrated the XVR software in our curriculum. All officers are regularly trained and even examined with XVR.” Aschbacher says. “We’ve developed 3 different training procedures, the Training stage, Consolidation stage and the Expert stage.”
“In the Training stage, we instruct the participant to analyse the incident and initiate a discussion with the group on how to proceed. Step by step we go through any further possibilities and discuss and decide the course of action.”
Martin Reich showing several scenarios to Steven Lohman
Helmut Aschbacher continues: “The Consolidation stage is an individual training form. We’re using interactive inserts and learning objective bookmarks. The participant is able to repeat a certain aspect of the training by reloading the learning objective bookmark. The student is able to interact with the avatars. In this stage, the trainer also interacts with the participant through interactive inserts.”
“In the Expert phase, we try and be as realistic as possible. The scenario runs in real-time, without interruption. Communication via radio is transmitted via the real rescue control centre and instructors act interactively with the students in real time.” Aschbacher goes on: “We have developed around 10 scenarios, with each 3 to 4 variants, this way we’re always able to provide our students with a new experience.”
The Steiermark Red Cross has a permanent training team of six experienced officers, who all have at least 10 years’ experience. “We try to achieve a healthy growth in our team of trainers. Not only does our current team regularly attend internal and external trainings, each year we also take on one new trainer and train them in the concept and technology. This leads towards a sustainable personnel policy.”
“We’re also looking to improve the quality of future trainings” Aschbacher continues. “A thesis is being written at the Austria Institut of Technology on our methodology and didactics with VR trainings. With this theses we’re hoping to use XVR more effectively and train even more employees.”
Steiermark Red Cross is also working with the University of Graz. “We are accompanied by an occupational psychologist of the University to find out how the decision making process in crisis situations can be improved. We expect to incorporate the results in our XVR training to train even better officers.
Mag. Dr. Werner Weinhofer working with XVR
XVR Close Up is a new segment in which we will take a closer look at some of our users and their stories. To kick-off this new segment we’ve paid a visit to Giessen, Germany.
The Fire and Rescue service Giessen has been using XVR On Scene for over a year now. They have a fixed training centre with three training pods and provide exercises for all levels of emergency management. Nothing out of the ordinary so far, yet Giessen might serve as a perfect example to other districts in Germany.
We are sitting down with Kreisbrandmeister Wolfgang Then (the Districts Fire Chief). “We saw a clear need to train in a virtual environment. New incident commanders have little experience in the field, and may need to boost their confidence by experiencing situations first hand. Commanding officers needed to learn new procedures to be used in the field. Both can be easily taught and repeated during a virtual training. A colleague who previously worked for the professional firefighters of Frankfurt pointed out the advantages of XVR On Scene to us.”
Wolfgang Then goes on: “Seeing the need was one thing however. In order to get funding we needed to convince the other municipalities to join in. After careful consideration we invited XVR to give a demonstration during the annual meeting of the entire district. Eventually, all 18 municipalities agreed to start using XVR, to which every municipality contributes.”
The Giessen fire fighters are creating the scenarios, and lead all trainings on a voluntary basis. Supervision of the training quality and didactics development is supervised by the districts fire inspection. Wolfgang Then: “I believe Giessen is a very good example of how a district like ours can profit from the benefits of VR training.”
Landkreis Giessen has been using XVR for over a year now. “I think we can safely say that we can create every scenario imaginable. Training with XVR allows us to train all levels of command, as often as we want. In either an individual-, group- or hybrid form of training.”
“The Hybrid training is a perfect example of how we combine XVR with more traditional forms of training. The districts entire head of technical operations gets involved in the hybrid training. The commanding officer interacts with XVR displaying the incident. He reports his findings via radio to the Mobile Command Post outside the training facility, in which the head of operations team are performing their training simultaneously.”
We are sitting down with Kreisbrandmeister Wolfgang Then (the Districts Fire Chief). “We saw a clear need to train in a virtual environment. New incident commanders have little experience in the field, and may need to boost their confidence by experiencing situations first hand. Commanding officers needed to learn new procedures to be used in the field. Both can be easily taught and repeated during a virtual training. A colleague who previously worked for the professional firefighters of Frankfurt pointed out the advantages of XVR On Scene to us.”
Wolfgang Then goes on: “Seeing the need was one thing however. In order to get funding we needed to convince the other municipalities to join in. After careful consideration we invited XVR to give a demonstration during the annual meeting of the entire district. Eventually, all 18 municipalities agreed to start using XVR, to which every municipality contributes.”
The Giessen fire fighters are creating the scenarios, and lead all trainings on a voluntary basis. Supervision of the training quality and didactics development is supervised by the districts fire inspection. Wolfgang Then: “I believe Giessen is a very good example of how a district like ours can profit from the benefits of VR training.”
Landkreis Giessen has been using XVR for over a year now. “I think we can safely say that we can create every scenario imaginable. Training with XVR allows us to train all levels of command, as often as we want. In either an individual-, group- or hybrid form of training.”
“The Hybrid training is a perfect example of how we combine XVR with more traditional forms of training. The districts entire head of technical operations gets involved in the hybrid training. The commanding officer interacts with XVR displaying the incident. He reports his findings via radio to the Mobile Command Post outside the training facility, in which the head of operations team are performing their training simultaneously.”
Wolfgang Then is very pleased to be using XVR: “Training with VR is an active, realistic and captivating way to train. The trainee is fully immersed in the scenario, much more than traditional table top training. We’ve been training more and are able to assess situations better. I’m really happy that we have been able to implement XVR with the support of the entire district.”
Two years ago, Smit Salvage established a partnership with XVR Simulation to innovate and enhance their Managing Marine Emergencies (MME) training course.
After thorough testing and implementation, Smit Salvage now has a modern and future proof training program with both XVR On Scene and Crisis Media.
Smit Salvage, part of Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V., organised the first official training with the XVR Platform in the headquarters of Boskalis in Papendrecht on 23 November. A total of 21 participants were trained in managing communication channels during a crisis at sea. The participants were divided into 4 groups, who were simultaneously trying to manage an emergency in which a multi-purpose cargo vessel got grounded and had to be salvaged.
Using a live video feed, each separate group was closely monitored during the one and a half hour training by an operator who ensured the progress of the training. The outcome of the training was different for each group but basically ended in one of two ways, either with the ship being successfully salvaged, or the ship breaking apart and the group being sued.
After the training, a central evaluation was carried out. Operators and scenario leaders assessed which team communicated best, and participants could explain the decisions they made during the training. Participants considered the training very useful and realistic. Smit Salvage is very enthusiastic about the implementation of the XVR Platform and is looking at possibilities to deploy it more widely and frequently. More information on the MME course here.
Smit Salvage, part of Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V., organised the first official training with the XVR Platform in the headquarters of Boskalis in Papendrecht on 23 November. A total of 21 participants were trained in managing communication channels during a crisis at sea. The participants were divided into 4 groups, who were simultaneously trying to manage an emergency in which a multi-purpose cargo vessel got grounded and had to be salvaged.
Using a live video feed, each separate group was closely monitored during the one and a half hour training by an operator who ensured the progress of the training. The outcome of the training was different for each group but basically ended in one of two ways, either with the ship being successfully salvaged, or the ship breaking apart and the group being sued.
After the training, a central evaluation was carried out. Operators and scenario leaders assessed which team communicated best, and participants could explain the decisions they made during the training. Participants considered the training very useful and realistic. Smit Salvage is very enthusiastic about the implementation of the XVR Platform and is looking at possibilities to deploy it more widely and frequently. More information on the MME course here.
Fire brigades from all over Switzerland are now able to train with XVR Simulation as a result of a very new and ingenious training concept.
CoNet GmbH, one of the leading providers of firefighting software in Switzerland, has developed a hybrid of a mobile and fixed XVR Simulation Centre. In a bus!
The bus was first presented at the Suissepublic firefighting trade fair in June this year and was welcomed with a lot of interest. Some fire brigades were so eager that they have already been trained by the XVR Simulation Centre Bus. Several other fire brigades have expressed their interest in booking for 2018.
Prior to the actual training in the mobile suite, a preliminary meeting is scheduled in which the time schedule and group formation are determined. From a catalogue of approx. 20 different scenarios, variating from a "small kitchen fire" to a "major chemical event", the customer or trainer can select the exercises that are suitable for his organisation.
It’s possible to organize both individual and group trainings with the bus. It’s equipped with three workplaces, each with a large screen monitor, joystick and video recording. It’s also possible to expand the bus with an outer tent, allowing for an extra workplace. During a team training each participant has his or her own role in the incident. Just like normal XVR exercises, everything is being supervised by an instructor who also has a designated workplace in the bus. The participants communicate via their radios and thus issue their orders or report the situation at the front.
More information at www.conet.ch
The bus was first presented at the Suissepublic firefighting trade fair in June this year and was welcomed with a lot of interest. Some fire brigades were so eager that they have already been trained by the XVR Simulation Centre Bus. Several other fire brigades have expressed their interest in booking for 2018.
Prior to the actual training in the mobile suite, a preliminary meeting is scheduled in which the time schedule and group formation are determined. From a catalogue of approx. 20 different scenarios, variating from a "small kitchen fire" to a "major chemical event", the customer or trainer can select the exercises that are suitable for his organisation.
It’s possible to organize both individual and group trainings with the bus. It’s equipped with three workplaces, each with a large screen monitor, joystick and video recording. It’s also possible to expand the bus with an outer tent, allowing for an extra workplace. During a team training each participant has his or her own role in the incident. Just like normal XVR exercises, everything is being supervised by an instructor who also has a designated workplace in the bus. The participants communicate via their radios and thus issue their orders or report the situation at the front.
More information at www.conet.ch
MASA and XVR Simulation (XVR) are ready to collaborate and benefit from each other’s expertise in order to further develop their own products and markets.
Paris, Delft, 27 November 2017 – The strategic relationship between MASA Group (“MASA”), a leading developer of Artificial Intelligence-based simulation software, and XVR Simulation B.V (“XVR”), a global leader in virtual reality training software, will be reinforced this month following the signing of both a partnership and a reseller agreement. These agreements will confirm the partnership between the two companies to develop and sell their products (MASA SWORD & XVR Platform) in their respective domains.
MASA products are successfully in use worldwide, including the French, Brazilian, New Zealand, Swiss, Bangladesh and Colombian Armies. XVR is used to train emergency personnel in over 250 simulation centres in 36 countries including almost all European countries, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, United Arab Emirates and The United States.
Over the last year, MASA and XVR have already partnered up by integrating DirectAI (the AI engine used in SWORD) into the XVR Platform for the safety and security users in Singapore.
XVR will appoint MASA as its exclusive reseller to its customers in France and French territories. MASA will also take care of all existing French speaking XVR users and will provide them with services based on the XVR products.
The companies identified an opportunity to bring their complementary expertise and technologies together. A complete offer including both MASA SWORD and the XVR Platform will provide an environment capable of training staff on the ground in a 3D environment up to high-level decision makers in a 2D environment. “We are delighted to further strengthen our cooperation with MASA Group. The integration of our two leading technologies has proven its success in Singapore, together we’ll be able to help our current and future French users more efficiently” said Joost Beerthuis, Chief Executive Officer of XVR Simulation.
MASA Group will be exhibiting at I/ITSEC from 27 November to 1 December, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando. Please visit MASA on stand 2227.
Click here to see the full press release.
MASA products are successfully in use worldwide, including the French, Brazilian, New Zealand, Swiss, Bangladesh and Colombian Armies. XVR is used to train emergency personnel in over 250 simulation centres in 36 countries including almost all European countries, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, United Arab Emirates and The United States.
Over the last year, MASA and XVR have already partnered up by integrating DirectAI (the AI engine used in SWORD) into the XVR Platform for the safety and security users in Singapore.
XVR will appoint MASA as its exclusive reseller to its customers in France and French territories. MASA will also take care of all existing French speaking XVR users and will provide them with services based on the XVR products.
The companies identified an opportunity to bring their complementary expertise and technologies together. A complete offer including both MASA SWORD and the XVR Platform will provide an environment capable of training staff on the ground in a 3D environment up to high-level decision makers in a 2D environment. “We are delighted to further strengthen our cooperation with MASA Group. The integration of our two leading technologies has proven its success in Singapore, together we’ll be able to help our current and future French users more efficiently” said Joost Beerthuis, Chief Executive Officer of XVR Simulation.
MASA Group will be exhibiting at I/ITSEC from 27 November to 1 December, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando. Please visit MASA on stand 2227.
Click here to see the full press release.
This October, the Twente Fire Services’ training days for operational officers focussed on the fight against terrorism. Over 20 officers of the Fire Service Twente were trained during two meetings with the help of XVR On Scene.
XVR On Scene was used during the training days to help the officers visualise and assess the severity of the incident. The police were also involved in the training. One of the training objectives was to let the authorities jointly consider the different action perspectives in the event of a terror attack.
Two scenarios were prepared for the training. The first scenario took place in the inner city of Enschede. In order to increase familiarity and immersion for the participant, an existing environment was converted into a recognisable location in Enschede. The other scenario took place at a train station in Twente. This too has been replicated in the virtual environment as realistically as possible.
The training with XVR was received positively. It is seen as a nice addition to current training methods, and will be used more often and more extensively in the future.
The EU funded project DRIVER (Driving Innovation in Crisis Management for European Resilience), of which XVR Simulation is an active part, is entering a new phase called DRIVER+. The kick-off for the new phase was on 25 – 27 September in Rotterdam with all partners.
The DRIVER+ project focuses on providing a platform where innovative ideas and new crisis management solutions are trialled, shared and enhanced in an EU wide crisis management setup. The XVR Platform is used to test these innovations. Being part of DRIVER+ allows XVR Simulation to contribute to the general development of crisis management in Europe and integrate innovative solutions in training methodology.
DRIVER+ is committed to become a testing platform for the development of Crisis Management capabilities for every European country by April 2020. All innovative solutions from DRIVER+ will be made available to external organisations who are willing to share their solutions amongst each other. A Community of Practice in crisis management will be built to support a shared understanding in Crisis Management across Europe through the cooperation framework.
Click here if you want to read more about the DRIVER+ project.
All DRIVER+ project partners
Yesterday, His Majesty King of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Máxima visited the Portuguese ‘Escola Nacional de Bombeiros’ (ENB), the National Fire Service College.
As part of a state visit programme, Mr. José Ferreira, president of ENB and Mr. Vitor Reis, director of ENB, presented the wildfire simulation training centre to the royal guests.
Following the presentation, the ENB team showcased the training methodology with a demo exercise using virtual reality. His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Máxima showed a lot of interest in the Portuguese-Dutch cooperation and addressed the importance of wildfire training given the recent large wildfires Portugal has had to fight.
In March last year, we were delighted to welcome His Majesty King Willem-Alexander in Paris during a project presentation with the Paris Fire Brigade. XVR Simulation would like to take this opportunity to thank His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Máxima for their continued interest in the developments of simulation training.
To this regard we would also like to express our gratitude to the Dutch Embassies and Business Centers around the world for supporting XVR Simulation in promoting our products and services in the respective countries, and for their continuous support in expanding the local networks. The professional and pleasant cooperation is of vital importance for XVR Simulation’s growth in many local markets. We owe special thanks to Dutch Ambassador Jacques Werner in Singapore for opening our subsidiary in Singapore last year, and to Ambassador Govert Jan Bijl de Vroe and his team for arranging today’s visit of the His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen.
Following the presentation, the ENB team showcased the training methodology with a demo exercise using virtual reality. His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Máxima showed a lot of interest in the Portuguese-Dutch cooperation and addressed the importance of wildfire training given the recent large wildfires Portugal has had to fight.
In March last year, we were delighted to welcome His Majesty King Willem-Alexander in Paris during a project presentation with the Paris Fire Brigade. XVR Simulation would like to take this opportunity to thank His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Máxima for their continued interest in the developments of simulation training.
To this regard we would also like to express our gratitude to the Dutch Embassies and Business Centers around the world for supporting XVR Simulation in promoting our products and services in the respective countries, and for their continuous support in expanding the local networks. The professional and pleasant cooperation is of vital importance for XVR Simulation’s growth in many local markets. We owe special thanks to Dutch Ambassador Jacques Werner in Singapore for opening our subsidiary in Singapore last year, and to Ambassador Govert Jan Bijl de Vroe and his team for arranging today’s visit of the His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen.
Long-time and highly regarded customer of XVR Simulation Landesverband Feuerwehr- und Katastrophenschutzschule (LFKS) Rheinland-Pfalz in Koblenz has been officially recognized as XVR Centre of Excellence. LFKS has been using XVR since 2004.
Joost Beerthuis, CEO of XVR Simulation, said: “Rewarding LFKS with a Centre of Excellence plaque is long overdue. We have had a long-term and intensive cooperation and both XVR On Scene as well as XVR Resource Management are fully implemented to their curriculum. They have earned the recognition and we look forward to our future collaboration”.
If your trainingscentre matches all requirements to be an XVR Centre of Excellence, please send an e-mail to info@xvrsim.com with your motivation on why you feel your training facility should be a Centre of Excellence. XVR will then review your application to be hailed as official XVR Centre of Excellence.
XVR Centre of Excellence
The XVR Centre of Excellence is a leading training facility, getting the absolute best out of XVR and its users. Being a Centre of Excellence (CoE) sets an example for other training facilities.
What are the requirements to become a XVR Centre of Excellence?
- XVR Simulation has been fully integrated in the training curriculum
- Didactic goals with a clear future view have been set
- A team of instructors has been formed and trained
- Scenarios, scripts, training and evaluation methodology in place
- Have a mobile or fixed hardware set-up with internal IT support.
Which training centres are currently XVR Centre of Excellence?
If your trainingscentre matches all requirements to be an XVR Centre of Excellence, please send an e-mail to info@xvrsim.com with your motivation on why you feel your training facility should be a Centre of Excellence. XVR will then review your application to be hailed as official XVR Centre of Excellence.
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