A Bristol-based technology firm has teamed up with a HGV driver training company to help new drivers onto the road - using (VR) virtual reality.
Over the past few months, the UK has suffered a shortage of more than 100,000 qualified HGV drivers. This is in part due to the loss of thousands of EU drivers who have left or are unable to return to the UK due to Brexit.
The pandemic also made it harder for new drivers to access the necessary training and tests. More recently, the number of drivers wanting to train has outnumbered the number of vehicles available for them to learn in.
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As a result, there is now huge pressure to upskill and train a new generation of hauliers.
In response to the devastating impact of HGV driver shortages on supply chain delivery throughout 2021, HGV training company Easy As HGV has turned to Virtual Reality (VR) technology in a bid to help prospective drivers learn key safety procedures more effectively and get test-ready amid a shortage of available training vehicles.
The company, which works with over 90 driver training centres across the UK, has partnered with Bristol-based immersive training firm Virti to create immersive VR simulations and 360-degree video content.
Ben McAuley, Learning Experience Designer at Virti, said: "I love it because it's working with new technologies and using it in a way to improve people's performances, I've wanted to be a teacher and I kind of moved away from that in college but now you're back to it because you're helping people out."
"I love the culture at Virti, we want to make VR training affordable and accessible to everyone. People can also access our training material through laptops and mobile phones etc, it's not just VR devices."
CEO and founder of Virti Dr Alex Young is an orthapeodic surgeon who saw a gap in his training and thought that virtual reality would be really interesting.
He worked with the NHS trust through the Covid-19 pandemic to create video simulations so they could train their staff using VR on a number of skills, for example surgery.
Virti's aim is to provide an online remote learning platform, using the latest learning technologies to improve human performance.
Dr Young said: "For a long time, people tended to associate VR with gaming. But it’s in teaching and training scenarios that the technology really comes into its own. At Virti, we specialise in helping companies build data-driven, immersive deep learning tools to transform how people learn and help them remember skills and information for longer.
He added: "We’re really excited to be working with Easy As HGV to help them respond quickly and effectively to the HGV driver shortage.
“We’ve built a set of simulations to speed up and improve the training process and qualify candidates more quickly using Virtual Reality. There’s no better way to embed learning and build confidence than to give people repeated opportunities to immerse themselves in the training scenario.
Candidates will be able to access the new training tools using VR headsets or their mobile device, meaning they can easily access training sessions remotely or on the go.
Dr Young added: “We’re delighted to be able to offer this technology to Easy As HGV candidates for free, to give them the very best chance of success.
"We look forward to seeing how the new tools impact the HGV driver training process - and hopefully get more drivers onto the roads safely and efficiently.”
The VR simulations have been designed to make it easier for candidates to learn and practice some of the core skills required to acquire their HGV license.
Filmed by the Virti team at a HGV driver training centre in Surrey, the VR training simulations allow trainees to follow an instructor through the walk-around pre-drive safety checks, the process for coupling and uncoupling the cab and load and how to carry out reversing manoeuvres.
The simulations have been designed to complement Easy As HGV’s four-day intensive training course and will be offered to candidates for free to help them consolidate their knowledge and practice their skills.
The new simulations have been created to train candidates for the Category C+E test, which is the license required to operate lorries that weigh over 3500kg and a trailer that weighs over 750kg.
Typically, the process of training and acquiring a large vehicle license takes eight to ten weeks.
In the last six months, Easy As HGV says enquiries to train have increased by 400%.
It trains up to 500 drivers per month and hopes the technology will allow them to improve test performance by 25% and get more skilled HGV drivers on the road this year.
'We desperately need to train up more drivers'
Tom McGhie, Managing Director at Easy As HGV, said: “It’s no secret that the HGV sector is in crisis. We desperately need to train up more drivers - and fast.
"We’re being inundated with enquiries and people are incredibly keen to learn. It’s therefore crucial that we can innovate to allow more people to come through the system, but that we use tools that uphold our commitment to safety and quality.
“This VR training is going to be invaluable as it will enable candidates to revise and practice the skills they learn in our training course before they take their test. It’s far more effective than having them read a textbook or watch a standard, non-interactive video.
"The tech has been designed to test and challenge our candidates, so that they’re better prepared for the test, and research indicates that they’ll retain this crucial safety information much more effectively as a result.
“The feedback from candidates so far has been overwhelmingly positive and we look forward to rolling the new training materials out further and seeing the impact over the coming weeks.”
The Virti platform also generates detailed data and analytics on candidate performance to help them improve and spot gaps in their knowledge.
The immersive training market is expected to be worth $463.7 billion by 2026.
Virti was named among Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies of 2021.
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