RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. —
WESTERN ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION (WECA) LAUNCHES ORIGINAL VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) GAMING APPLICATION FOR ITS ELECTRICAL APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS
The VR app is targeted on Industrial Battery Power Storage Methods (BESS)
Western Electrical Contractors Affiliation (WECA) is happy to announce the launch of its first foray into authentic digital actuality utility improvement for apprenticeship with a VR (digital actuality) gaming app targeted on Industrial Battery Power Storage Methods (BESS).
This launch is the primary in a sequence of deliberate additions of immersive and superior studying know-how experiences in WECA’s electrical and low voltage coaching and apprenticeship packages. The initiative was proposed by WECA’s Apprenticeship Coaching Belief Board of Trustees, who first envisioned WECA’s capacity to develop industry-leading superior studying applied sciences targeted on XR (prolonged actuality) experiences to deliver thrilling, distant, and complicated environments into WECA’s hands-on labs and lecture rooms.
WECA approached the challenge from a contemporary digital product design perspective; starting with interviewing WECA member contractors to assemble and analyze their particular coaching wants for electricians on Industrial BESS. After a devoted strategy of exploring and evaluating completely different VR improvement suppliers and platforms, WECA selected to companion with Motive.IO. The Motive VR Coaching Platform permits organizations to create and management their VR coaching content material, with no code required.
WECA applies Agile improvement methodologies to its curriculum product design for its competency-based apprenticeship curriculum, by which apprentices should show adequate talent and understanding to proceed. Fingers-on performance-based labs to bolster and assess mastery of outlined competencies are woven all through the curriculum. The prospect offered by the Motive platform for the WECA staff to develop after which retain the power to make fast, iterative updates to its VR app itself, with no need to depend on exterior builders for each minor change, was a big promoting level, and a pure match with WECA’s dedication to serving essentially the most up-to-date technical and related Nationwide Electrical Code content material in its packages always.
WECA has a dedication to retaining its apprentices on the forefront of latest and inexperienced applied sciences, because the WECA member contractors who make use of them and sponsor their educations do necessary work on crucial infrastructure and electrification upgrades within the Western United States and quickly reply to new state and federal emphases and funding for EV charging, battery power storage techniques, and fast substitute of carbon-based fuels with electrical alternate options.
Within the WECA Industrial Electrical apprenticeship program’s competency on Industrial BESS, Apprentices research a real-world challenge full with interactive jobsite simulations in VR. Within the VR simulations, college students reference the plans, see the precise scale and structure of a BESS container, and discover and work together with PV inverters, transformers and switchboards. Utilizing a map and guidelines, apprentices stroll by way of the jobsite and examine the gear, connections, signage and extra – all the things wanted for pre-commissioning approval. Alongside the best way, they get quizzed with questions associated to Code articles and site-specific necessities. Retaining issues enjoyable and gamified, there could even be a number of spots that require the apprentice to find issues and implement fixes with a view to move inspection!
It’s a journey of immersive discovery for WECA’s apprentices, and people who received to take part within the preliminary pilots have been all smiles. The VR BESS app has now been absolutely rolled out to all WECA services serving its Industrial Electrical apprenticeship program throughout the Western United States: Rancho Cordova, CA; Fresno, CA; Riverside, CA; San Diego, CA; Phoenix, AZ; and Salt Lake Metropolis, UT.
###
Western Electrical Contractors Affiliation (WECA) is a nonprofit commerce affiliation and electrical coaching and apprenticeship supplier, serving electrical and low voltage contractors, their apprentices, electrical college students, and the higher {industry}. Headquartered in California and in addition serving Arizona and Utah, WECA promotes workforce improvement for {the electrical} and low voltage industries within the areas we serve.