Prof. Dr. Evangelos Markopoulos
Immersive Safe Oceans Technology
Immersive Safe Oceans Technology. The Finnish EduTech disruptive innovation transforms on-board maritime safety training.
Further to our last back in Ocober 2019, pleased to update you as follows:
The Finnish maritime and naval tradition combined with the country’s world famous education system and its expertise in ICT (Information Technology and Communication) generates EduTech innovations such as the Immersive Safe Oceans Technology developed in Turku University of Applied Sciences. The research conducted by Prof. Dr. Mika Luimula and Prof. Dr. Evangelos Markopoulos, addresses on-board maritime safety training needs with Virtual Reality technology. This work has recently been published by the credible academic journal ‘Future Internet’ of the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) https://www.mdpi.com/1999-5903/12/5/80#cite
The technology is an example of disruption which slightly becomes visible in the professional and technical education sector. The global Covid-19 pandemic transforms the global management and decision-making methods while reinventing distance and virtual operation practices. This new reality creates an urgent need and opportunity for a big change in all the levels of the education system and furthermore in the demanding professional technical and training where hands-on-training and updated skill certifications are needed.
Prof. Dr. Mika Luimula
Immersive Safe Oceans Technology represents Finnish knowhow in the marine industry integrated with gamification and virtual reality to achieve effective, immersive and engaged on-board training to all types and ranks of seafarers. The technology is demonstrated through four groups of training episodes, namely, (1) command bridge, (2) engine/machine room, (3) crane control, and (4) fire safety, developed with the practical expertise offered by Wärtsilä Sea and Land Academy on engine rooms and by Aboa Mare on bridge simulations.
Today ships all over the world are equipped with Wärtsilä’s engines, the biggest and boldest cruise ships are made in the Meyer Turku shipyards, hundreds of seafarers officers are trained at the Aboa Mare Academy bridge simulators, and now such futuristic interactive technologies can be used in seafarers’ onboard training by utilizing this Finnish disruptive EduTech innovation.
What will come next? Prof. E. Markopoulos and Prof. M. Luimula continue this research by integrating in it technologies such as the Finnish made Varjo VR and XR devices. Their work will introduce in the upcoming releases revolutionary features on behavioral biometrics that can capture the state of mind and reveal the emotional and mental stage of the trainee on how safely a task is executed at specific period or during a training session. Human behavior tracing and tracking in real time virtual spaces allows the delivery of reliable predictions on the performance of the crew, the safety of the vessel, the safety of the crew on it, but also dictates the staffing requirements needed for a safe journey before the vessel sails.
Prof. Evangelos Markopoulos and Prof. Mika Luimula can be reached at evangelos.markopoulos@turkuamk.fi and Mika.Luimula@turkuamk.fi respectively.
