Daikin creates virtual training environment

JAPAN: Daikin Industries and Japanese IT and electronics company NEC have begun air conditioning service engineer training using virtual and augmented reality technologies.

The two Japanese multinationals have built a virtual space for air conditioner inspection and diagnosis on the BtoB metaverse platform Microsoft Mesh.

To address the labour shortage of service engineers due to the increase in workload and Japan’s declining birthrate and aging population, Japan sees shortening the training period for new recruits as increasingly important to make them effective as soon as possible.

By providing experiential education that could previously only be learned through on-the-job training in a virtual space and enabling remote group training and collaborative work experiences, Daikin and NEC aim to make training more advanced and efficient.

The virtual space training enables defective air conditioners to be inspected based on the logic learned in the manual, operational data obtained on-site, and visual elements. It is possible to reproduce the services provided to customers at actual sites in the virtual space. 

The metaverse platform and devices used are Microsoft Mesh and Meta Quest 3, which are said to be suitable for in-house and BtoB use. Trainees and instructors enter the virtual space from their PCs to conduct training. In addition to providing a realistic on-site environment experience that was difficult to achieve in conventional face-to-face practical training, the training also includes a function to support trainees and instructors by creating reports of behaviour and action data in the space, allowing them to review their work and compare it with textbook procedures.

NEC will provide comprehensive support for the business utilisation of the metaverse, linking the various data unique to the virtual world with business system data for the physical world, and creating new value by combining it with advanced technologies such as verifiable credentials and generative AI.