‘The Way of the Future’: Huntsville Center Safety Office, Army Game Studio Unveil Virtual Reality Game
By
Kristen Bergeson
U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville
A screenshot of the USACE Safety Trainer 360 shows the first-person perspective of a user navigating the simulated construction site. The virtual reality game, developed through a partnership between the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville and the Army Game Studio, was recently unveiled during a construction safety course led by the Center’s Safety Office. (Courtesy Photo)
Employees participating in a recent construction safety course at the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville toured a construction site, identified safety hazards and experienced the dangerous outcomes of safety violations – all without leaving their classroom.
This real-world experience was made possible by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Safety Trainer 360, a virtual reality construction site game created by the Huntsville Center Safety Office and the Army Game Studio. The new training tool allows users to navigate a computer-simulated construction site while looking for and correcting potential hazards.
The game is the brainchild of Kyle Shireman, Huntsville Center safety manager, who has been working with developers at the Army Game Studio since 2021 to bring his vision to light. Like most innovative ideas, his originated with a problem that needed to be solved.
“We don’t have many construction sites close to our office, and most of the employees attending our safety courses have never been to one,” Shireman said. “But they will eventually be on the job at a construction site, and they need to know how to stay safe. It’s hard to retain the information in these courses without actually understanding what it looks like.”
The Safety Office needed a tool that would allow employees to experience a construction site during the training process.
Employees participating in a recent construction safety course at the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville toured a construction site, identified safety hazards and experienced the dangerous outcomes of safety violations – all without leaving their classroom.
This real-world experience was made possible by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Safety Trainer 360, a virtual reality construction site game created by the Huntsville Center Safety Office and the Army Game Studio. The new training tool allows users to navigate a computer-simulated construction site while looking for and correcting potential hazards.
Kyle Shireman, Huntsville Center safety manager and visionary behind the Center’s new USACE Safety Trainer 360, explains how to use the virtual reality construction safety game’s headset and controllers to Shane Henry, audit technician, during a Occupational Safety and Health Administration 10-Hour Training Course held at the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville. (Photo by Kristen Bergeson)
The game is the brainchild of Kyle Shireman, Huntsville Center safety manager, who has been working with developers at the Army Game Studio since 2021 to bring his vision to light. Like most innovative ideas, his originated with a problem that needed to be solved.
“We don’t have many construction sites close to our office, and most of the employees attending our safety courses have never been to one,” Shireman said. “But they will eventually be on the job at a construction site, and they need to know how to stay safe. It’s hard to retain the information in these courses without actually understanding what it looks like.”
The Safety Office needed a tool that would allow employees to experience a construction site during the training process.
