Our szenaris letter III/2011 again presents a selection of interesting facts from the world of e-learning, training and simulation which we hope you will find inspiring.

Best regards from the szenaris team.

When a fire breaks out and the fire brigade is called, time is always of the essence. Lives are in danger, homes and possessions at risk. Nonetheless, in a crisis situation the safety of the firefighters always comes first. But how can responders achieve the necessary routine?

In cases of fire, accidents involving hazardous materials or environmental disasters, the fire brigade offers assistance quickly and efficiently. In these situations, fire officers must have the ability to act safely and correctly almost automatically. But care and maintenance of materials after a call-out and routine checking of all components are also important - after all, the next call-out is never far off… Of course these activities and checking procedures must be regularly practised using the actual equipment; beforehand however, a basic understanding of how to use the equipment and of the safety aspects involved is essential.

This is why szenaris GmbH has developed a learning program on behalf of the German Armed Forces that conveys this knowledge to prospective fire officers. Clearly illustrated with videos and animations, it explains the steps for fitting and removing respiratory devices and compressed air breathing apparatus. A wide range of interactive content actively involves users in the learning process in order to reinforce their knowledge of the equipment procedures through their own actions.

Safety-relevant procedures such as checking the seal seat of a respiratory device or valve tests are vital in firefighting operations and are therefore given particular attention in the learning program.

More information on this topic:

Seal of quality: with e-learning to respiratory protection (press release)
Success Story

Contact: Heike Kissner

Have you ever used the “Google Streetview” functionality in “Google Maps”? If so, you are already familiar with an example of interactive photo panoramas. But can you imagine what makes the difference between such interactive photo panoramas and true 3D representations?

As the name suggests, photo panoramas are based on photographs, which however contain no information on three-dimensional spatial coordinates. This means that while you can see a house in a photo panorama, you cannot tell how high or how wide it is. A true three-dimensional representation requires spatial points which can be acquired for example using laser scanners. The results are referred to as point clouds, the density of which varies with the resolution of the laser.

But how are these point clouds transformed into a true three-dimensional representation? Simple: each laser point corresponds to a spatial coordinate. By connecting the individual points with each other, a mesh of triangular planes is created. If photographic material is applied to these grid surfaces, this produces three-dimensional objects such as road surfaces or houses. Of course it is only possible to fully represent objects that have been comprehensively scanned and for which corresponding photographic material is available. The result is a three-dimensional landscape in which viewers can move around virtually. Modern-day technology can meanwhile create such 3D landscapes almost automatically. Based on photo panoramas and accordingly georeferenced laser scanning data, individually recorded areas can easily be combined into larger overall landscapes.

The generated 3D panoramas are an exact representation of reality, meaning that the dimensions, distances, angles and surfaces of the virtual objects correspond to the real environment. This of course offers enormous potential for applying the technology in a wide range of fields. Urban planners and architects, for example, can perform their tasks at their desks. Other areas of application are e.g. in logistics - planning heavy goods transports - or in large-scale event planning by the police.

Of course this technology can also be used in training applications to generate landscapes for driving simulators, or in virtual reality training systems.

More information on this topic:

Success Story (only in German)
Also working on this subject: 3DInteractive from Ilmenau

Contact: Klaus Bock-Mueller

Around the world, globalisation is leading to a restructuring and increasingly international orientation of education systems. But what contribution can technology-based education and training make in this context? Under the heading “Thinking Education Globally”, leading education scientists and practitioners sought to answer this question at this year’s Distance Learning Congress of the German Armed Forces.

Key topics of the 2011 congress:

• Consequences of global networking: Increasing internationalisation urgently demands the development of new didactic methods in order to ensure that knowledge and information can be made available quickly and at acceptable quality worldwide. Web 2.0 offers excellent options for powerful information and knowledge management.
• International personnel marketing, selection and development: In these times of skills shortages, online-based solutions have become established in the labour market as the method of choice for recruiting, selecting, and, most importantly, retaining qualified personnel. E-recruiting and e-learning offer the necessary amount of flexibility in terms of time and place. This is especially important with regard to balancing work and family life, and for international collaboration within companies.
• Realistic and networked learning using simulations: Learning with simulations, or serious games (see also “Researched for you…” in this szenaris letter), is extremely popular in education and further training. Particularly the possibility of integrating this method into comprehensive training scenarios means it offers a significant basis for acquiring skills in vocational training.

“Experience Serious Games” was the motto of a joint workshop held by our Managing Director Dr. Uwe Katzky and Prof. Dr. Gernold P. Frank of HTW Berlin. The idea of simply trying out games and games-like simulations was met with great enthusiasm by those attending the workshop. In addition to a “real” PackBot EOD (robot vehicle for explosive ordnance disposal), szenaris provided two workstations where workshop participants could drive the virtual vehicles using the original operating devices. “Even high-ranking officers didn’t want to miss the rare opportunity to control a PackBot themselves. And they had precisely the immersion experience that is so important for a good game or a good simulation. It was a thoroughly successful event; some participants even remarked that it was “by far the best workshop at the Distance Learning Congress.”, declared Prof. Frank. With the integration of the “telemax” vehicle, which was self-funded by szenaris, the training system has meanwhile been expanded significantly.

Along with the simulation for remote controlled robot vehicles, the presentation of the virtual U212A submarine was a further highlight at the szenaris booth. A wide range of interactive options and the ability to navigate freely within the submarine create a high degree of immersion (a user’s sense of being surrounded by a learning environment) and were extremely well received, not only by marines.

szenaris staff are already looking forward to the 9th Distance Learning Congress of the German Armed Forces, which will take place in Hamburg again from 4 – 6 September 2012.

More information on this topic:

Distance Learning Congress 2011 (only in German)

Contact: Dr. Uwe Katzky

As you will recall from our previous szenaris letter, a serious learning target is what transforms an entertaining leisure game into a serious game. In the second instalment of our series we tell you why playful learning is so successful and how it can be used in education and further training.

Anyone who has observed the tens of thousands of people flocking to football stadiums every week will know that enjoying games is not a matter of age. But this play instinct is more than just a desire to pass the time in an entertaining fashion. Games arouse our competitive nature and motivate us to exert ourselves. Science therefore also describes them as “hard fun” (Papert) or “pleasantly frustrating” (Gee), where a clever balance between challenge and skill causes a flow experience (Csikszentmihalyi) – full immersion in an activity. Learners feel reassured in their self-efficacy and leave the playing field with a sense of achievement. Games arouse feelings in us that we also hope to experience when learning.

Serious games, which wrap serious content in a playful scenario, achieve precisely this transfer. The most important factor for a successful serious game is an exciting background story that arouses users’ interest. From that story, specific objectives are derived which learners can only achieve by actively “playing” the game and thus acquiring the learning content. If several learners come together in a serious game, they may also solve tasks cooperatively or compete against each other.

We at szenaris for example employ precisely this game principle in our Virtual Team Trainer (VTT). The specific objective is to transport vehicles over a body of water by means of a bridge constructed from individual vehicles. This is only possible if the learners control the vehicles and the bridge correctly and coordinate their actions with each other.

Despite in some cases impressive implementations, serious games are still in their early stages. However, particularly the immense progress we are seeing in the field of virtual reality promises enormous potential for growth.

More information on this topic:

Simulations and Simulated Worlds: Learning in Immersive Learning Environments (only in German)
Game-based Learning: Learning by Playing? (only in German)
Playful Learning? A Survey on (Digital Game-based) Learning (only in German)
Horizon Report 2011: Game-Based Learning (p. 20 - 24)
Portal for games-based knowledge transfer (only in German)

Contact: Dr. Uwe Katzky

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