AtkinsRéalis

Rapidly onboarding a large construction workforce using an Igloo Vision shared immersive space

Client: AtkinsRéalis

Location: Newfoundland, Canada

Date: 2024

Product: 6-metre cylinder

As a global consultancy for design, engineering and project management, AtkinsRéalis is leading the way in deploying XR technologies for construction and engineering. As part of its commitment to digital transformation, AtkinsRéalis has invested in several Igloo immersive spaces in the UK (one of which you can read about in our Lava Labs case study), and one jointly owned in Newfoundland, Canada.

As part of a joint venture known as the SDP, AtkinsRéalis and its partners use a 6-metre immersive cylinder as a training hub for a major construction project.

The immersive training space enables AtkinsRéalis and its partners to rapidly bring project workforce up to speed on facilities and safety protocol for the construction of the base of a fixed drilling platform being installed in offshore Newfoundland.

AtkinsRéalis and its partners delivered immersive training to over 900 personnel in under 2 weeks.

“I don’t know how we could have got so many people through these training sessions without an Igloo immersive space.”

Mike Dunlop
Principle Immersive Media Producer, AtkinsRéalis

The product

The Hardware – The SDP Igloo is a 6-metre cylinder with floor projection, which is powered by 8 Epson projectors and an IMPII (Igloo Immersive Media Player). The floor projection seamlessly stitches together content across the walls and floor of the cylinder for a fuller immersive experience, which was essential for this project which needed to convey the experience of working at height.

The Software – The cylinder is powered by Igloo Core Engine (ICE), the operating system for immersive rooms by Igloo Vision which includes a comprehensive range of integrations for displaying industry-standard training and 3D design content. For this project, AtkinsRéalis made extensive use of ICE’s integration with the Unity game engine, which uses Unity camera view to display interactive, realtime content across the display.

The Content – The AtkinsRéalis Creative Design team used Unity to create interactive training scenarios. This content makes use of the project’s BIM (building information modelling) data to create a series of self-guided virtual walkthroughs used to familiarise staff with site facilities, health and safety protocols and project plans. AtkinsRéalis also captured various 360° images and video of different aspects of the site to display inside the Igloo.

The result

One reason AtkinsRéalis and its partners chose Igloo Vision was because of the potential for high training turnover and the SDP Igloo has seen some serious footfall since its installation.

In the lead up to one of the most complex and time-critical phases of the project, the training team inducted over 900 personnel using the Igloo in less than two weeks.

The Concrete Gravity Structure is one of the most complex elements of the drilling platform, and building it involved constructing a 100-metre conical shaft which would increase the overall height from 45-metres to 145-metres in under two weeks.

Any stoppage of the work during this phase could be very costly, so it was essential that the project workforce were properly trained and ready to go in a short time frame.

The training team found that they could comfortably train up to 15 people at any one time and the floor projection and True Perspective features accurately conveyed the facilities and experience of working at height.

True Perspective is a tool unique to ICE which automatically adjusts content depending on the viewers perspective and the configuration of the display, giving an authentic 3D image which preserves sightlines and stays true to spatial dynamics.

The Igloo training solution meant that AtkinsRéalis and its partners were able to get a substantial workforce up and running quickly, and incorporating their Unity training content with shared VR meant staff were sufficiently prepared to reduce risks and prevent costly mistakes.

Going forward

Following the initial high-volume training phase, AtkinsRéalis and its partners will continue to use the SDP Igloo to induct further employees onto the project and, as the project evolves, the training content can be updated to reflect different stages of the project lifecycle.

Having demonstrated a significant return on investment, AtkinsRéalis plan to expand on this model going forward, using Igloo Vision’s shared immersive training solutions to onboard staff for further large-scale construction projects.

Testimonials

“I don’t know how we could have got so many people through these training sessions without an Igloo.”

“The Igloo gives you a true sense of scale, and the floor projection allows people to stand in the space and actually understand the environment. And that's priceless, really.”

“Most projects these days will already have detailed BIM (building information modelling) data. So it's an efficient, natural workflow to adapt these digital assets for training using Igloo.”

Special thanks to our friends at Sunderland College for letting us use their Igloo cylinder with floor projection to film this case study. Due to the remote location of the Newfoundland Cylinder, Sunderland College’s space was chosen for its similar technical specification. If you want to know more about how Sunderland College use their Igloo day-to-day, we’ve got a case study on that too.