Best Use of Technology Award Screen tests

Some people still insist that using virtual reality technology to train HGV drivers is no substitute for getting them out on the road in real life. They claim that firms using this kind of approach are simply trying to cut costs from their dwindling training budgets.

But while BOC head of fleet transport Roger Wilkinson admits that the idea has indeed saved money, he says it offers plenty of other benefits and has proved a big hit with drivers. Importantly, it saves time when compared with traditional training techniques while also reducing the firm’s carbon footprint.

“We wanted to make training more exciting as well as a bit cheaper,” Wilkinson says as he begins explaining the principles behind DIViRT (Driver Immersive Virtual Reality Training).

“I wanted to keep it light and fresh. If you just keep sheep-dipping people every three years, you will get the same results. So, at the back end of 2018 we got talking to a Guildford-based firm called Diverse Interactive. They had done a sales gimmick with Mercedes-Benz where they had customers sitting in a gaming seat with a headset.

But the problem had always been that training its 500-strong team of drivers was expensive and required them to take a full day away from work to have accompanied drives out on the roads.

The training experience was also traditionally reliant on the skills of the assessor, and it was difficult to consistently measure against key safety criteria.

BOC wanted to make a step change to this approach and provide a platform to supplement on-the-road defensive driver training as realistically and consistently as possible, creating personalised sessions, tailored to the user, with actionable analysis and results.

To this end, it came up with a product focused on creating a realistic environment for the driver and an accurate and repeatable experience for the trainer.

Using six InstaPro 360 cameras, it shot scenes on a typical drive from Wembley to Windsor, in heavy traffic, to get 30 minutes of footage. It then took about a week to edit this down to a six-minute training clip.

The footage captured video in 8k at 60 frames per second. This eliminated motion blur and helped capture content not only in high resolution, but also with a high dynamic range.

DATA COLLECTOR:

Telemetry is captured from the seat and from several fixed points in the cab to make the virtual experience as realistic as possible

“We built on that using 360-degree cameras in the cab and put film footage on to the headsets. Then we thought it would be good to track eye movement, so we did another film set and introduced a hazard awareness element.”

As the UK’s largest provider of industrial, medical and special gases, safety is a key focus for the Wolverhamptonbased company, which has a national network of major production facilities, distribution centres and retail stores.

Vast amounts of telemetry have been captured, including ‘accelerometer’ data from the seat – so that corners, accelerating and decelerating felt realistic – and data from various fixed points in the cab, so that body roll could be accurately translated into virtual body roll in the motion seat.

Industry first

The software system is fully flexible running different driving scenarios and has the option to add numerous additional hazards, locations and assessment requirements in a streamlined way.

Eye-tracking plays a huge part in the training, allowing the trainee and the trainer to review the session and assess where the driver has been looking throughout the test.

“There’s nothing else out there with eye-tracking software,” Wilkinson explains. “There are other simulators – BOC has a simulator for the Netherlands operation – but there’s nothing like this on the market.

“We wanted the product to be more portable, so we have put it in a van, but it’s very sturdy. The driving session lasts six minutes and the idea is to bring the unit into a conference room or office space. There is a screen at the back of the unit and a desk where a trainer can take the driver through the clip and score them.

“There are hazards in there like cyclists, and vans coming up on the inside. Afterwards the trainer has a coaching conversation and tells the driver where improvements could be made.”

Wilkinson insists the data provides a vastly more accurate picture of the driver’s ability to spot hazards and, when necessary, react to them. After completing the test, the assessor takes the driver through their attempt, with a focus on “influencing their cognitive behaviours” rather than on whether they have passed or failed.

Generally, drivers do fail the test, and a handful have been affected by motion sickness. But even though they aren’t meant to pass first time, they aren’t let off with a warning for a poor score. If improvements aren’t made, they are required to do a full defensive driver training practical, which is a day’s course, out on the road.

Recent results show that out of a total of 123 participants between July and August 2022, 12 passed on the first drive and only four failed after two drives. The average score for the first drive was 82% and for the second 86%.

Returning to the all-important cost implications, Wilkinson provides a breakdown of figures to prove the financial benefits of the approach.

“If each driver costs £675 per training session – that’s the driver trainer, the fuel, the vehicle, etc – it will cost you £2,025 over 10 years,” he explains.

“What we are doing is taking that same timeline of 10 years and instead of doing the physical defensive training every three years we do it every five years. You therefore reduce your overall costs over the 10 years from £2,025 to £1,350. But in between, you are doing virtual reality training where there is no fuel, no driver hours and no truck movements, so you are saving on those costs.

“Instead, it’s two six-minute clips, which is a maximum of 30 minutes at the beginning of a driver’s shift, so you are not taking him off the road.”

Setting standards

Our judges were particularly impressed with BOC’s entry, which, Wilkinson says, shows how seriously the company takes transport and safety – and how technology can support its efforts.

“We keep up with the pace of change and are looking to continuously improve our operations, particularly from a safety perspective,” he says. “So I am very, very proud to receive the award.”

Although BOC doesn’t own the intellectual property rights to the idea, parent company Linde Group hopes to develop it further, incorporating not only hazard awareness but also topics such as slow speed manoeuvring and winter driving for its Swedish colleagues.

Asked if standards in the haulage sector are where they should be, Wilkinson believes some firms are letting the wider industry down.

“The good operators invest in good training but there are some unscrupulous one-man-bands,” he says. “Then there’s our European contingent with left-hand drive vehicles that don’t suit our roads.

“It feels like there are fewer of them since Brexit but they are still prevalent and there are still side swipes on motorways. I always look at the number plate – if it’s a foreign one, and you get in their blind spot, you are in trouble.

“Many good drivers have been lost due to the changes to IR35,” he adds, “and there are still recruitment issues, particularly in the south-east. We have got standards and we won’t relax those standards. Virtual reality training helps weed out underperforming drivers.”

Fuel options

Despite being a company at the centre of the gas industry, BOC has yet to embrace alternative fuel for its own fleet.

“We haven’t embarked on any trials yet,” Wilkinson says. “I don’t think the technology is quite there but I don’t think it’s far away. The infrastructure is starting to get there from an electricity point of view. CNG and LNG have been there for some time – but it’s still a fossil fuel.”

For now, alternative fuel is simply “part of BOC’s strategy,” he says.

“We’ve got a hydrogen refuelling station in Aberdeen for buses. We are on that journey as a gas supplier. As a fleet we haven’t got any plans in the immediate future but it’s something that’s rapidly catching up with us.” n

What The Judges Said

Our judges described the solution as a “really clever use of leading-edge VR technology” that helped BOC overcome an age-old issue of providing safe, cost-effective and beneficial training.

Described by one judge as “a great tool that is different from everything that the market currently has in place”, the panel appreciated the analytical abilities of the system to enable targeted areas of improvement, and the reduced carbon footprint of not operating vehicles for training purposes.