Digitisation of industrial training gives XR (extended reality) start-ups a shot in the arm

A leading Indian company in the construction materials sector was facing a particular problem post-COVID. A good portion of the elderly members of its blue-collar workforce stopped coming to work owing to health fears. This meant a lot of newcomers suddenly in the workforce leading to a gap between the required and existing competencies.

A leading Indian company in the construction materials sector was facing a particular problem post-COVID. A good portion of the elderly members of its blue-collar workforce stopped coming to work owing to health fears. This meant a lot of newcomers suddenly in the workforce leading to a gap between the required and existing competencies.

“We did a lot of benchmarking and understood there is a need to increase the level of competency of workers,” said a general manager at the company who wished to remain anonymous.

The search for a technology that would allow them to achieve the desired results in a quick span of time led them to deploy VR applications for industrial training by Bengaluru-based start-up AutoVRse.

The company began by deploying 30 modules in 2021 and is now rolling out 14 more. So far it has trained around 50,000 of its staff using VR. According to the GM, after the deployment of the application, its LTIFR figures (Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate tells the number of incidents in which a worker could not resume duty within 48 hours) have come down by more than 53%.

Extended Reality or XR start-ups are seeing increased demand from enterprises in manufacturing, construction equipment, power, oil and gas, and automotive, among others, for solutions that aid industrial training, thanks to the improved safety and actionable insights they offer.

Extended Reality, or XR, is an umbrella term that comprises Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Mixed Reality. According to the report ‘The Potential Global Economic Impact of the Metaverse, ‘ XR is expected to contribute $240 billion to India’s economy by 2030.

XR for training and simulations alone is expected to be $300 billion market globally by 2050, say experts.