Virtual Reality at the Education Center in Alvdalen, Sweden Eventually, forestry students at the Education Center in Alvdalen, Sweden,

have to train in a real tree harvester, but experiencing some hours in a virtual reality simulator is proving to be a popular choice for safe and cost effective training. When teacher Tomas Wiklund experimented with virtual reality as a teaching tool, he found that students who first used a simulator were more confident and productive when they started driving the real machine. Students who jumped right into operating the intimidating machine, which cuts down and carries 9O-foot pine trees with a 33-foot arm, were more nervous and thus more dangerous. Long a staple in aviation and the military, virtual reality training is only now catching on in other industries, says Roy Latham, editor of the "Real Time Graphics" newsletter and president of Mountain View, California-based CGSD, a virtual reality research and applications firm. After some premature enthusiasm about virtual reality technology a few years ago, many companies became disillusioned with mediocre technology that simply didn't simulate reality well enough, Latham says. The industry has had to win back credibility as its technology has improved. "We are early in that phase," he says. Although several universities are actively researching virtual reality training applications, most companies that have invested in virtual reality are more interested in prototyping manufacturing concepts, Latham says. Caterpillar is one of them, having worked with the University of Illinois for more than four years on virtual reality systems that model products. According to the journal I/S Analyzer, Chicago-based Amoco has used virtual reality for truck-driver training, and Bethel,

Connecticut-based Duracell has used it for improving workers' skills on the factory fIoor. Wiklund says the logging simulator is slow and offers only a frontal view, but is a worthwhile asset. Experienced operators can find nuances that don't feel right, giving the simulator limited value for more advanced loggers, he adds. But the simulator, made by Partek (Pargas, Finland) accounts for terrain, weather conditions, and the size of each tree and log, to simulate both normal and dangerous working conditions. The simulator is be on a Silicon Graphics Onyx2 server and software developed by Montreal-based Lateral Logic. It costs about $100,000 less than a $400,000 harvester, and its 65-in. screen be used to teach several students at a time. Wiklund says the machine also simulates a harvester's onboard computer systems, which calculate where to cut a tree to maximize the value of each log. Questions 1. What benefit is there to using a virtual reality simulator in training students to drive a tree harvester? 2. What are some other uses of virtual reality for training? 3. Why has virtual reality not been accepted more by businesses? Web Site Partek Corporation, Finland: www.partek.fi Source: Adapted from David Orenstein, "Virtual Reality Saves on Training," Computerworld, March 8, 1999, p.44