our green agenda:
what can immersive tech do for a sustainable future?
-
Martina Porru
- 📅 10th September 2021
OUR GREEN STATEMENT.
We recognise the environmental impact of certain activities and choices related to the workplace, training, and learning opportunities that generate waste and carbon footprint contaminating our planet. We are committed to being part of the future of sustainability through innovation and immersive technology. We encourage these alternative mechanisms because they still deliver results effectively while being more environmentally conscious.
WHAT CAN XR (VR/AR/MR)
DO FOR AN ECO-FRIENDLY FUTURE?
1. SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECTURE.
Immersive technology can be used as a tool to analyse methods of sustainable construction by creating immersive learning experiences focused on renewable materials and reducing waste. This results in users involved in the simulation having a better understanding of eco-friendly architecture and so, being more environmentally aware.
2. PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOUR and sustainability awareness.
Research finds that experiencing the consequences of climate change or unsustainable choices in an XR simulation results in awareness in users involved. These finds are world-changing when it comes to an eco-friendly future: users connect with nature on a sympathetic level, in some cases even thinking harming the environment would be akin to inflicting harm on the self. These results are possible due to the enhaced presence immersive technologies guarantee.
3. REDUCING CARBON FOOTPRINT AND FUEL EMISSIONS.
XR can be used to create future-proof solutions that enable organisations to transition to a low carbon economy. Proper application of emerging technologies to work practices is the answer to high levels of waste, resource shortages and high carbon emissions, by allowing employees to practice real-life scenarios in a safe simulated environment, anytime, anywhere. No need to travel to hard-to-access locations. In fact, travelling is among the highest carbon footprint activities.
WHAT HAVE WE DONE TO BRIDGE THE GAPS BETWEEN TECH AND SUSTAINABILITY?
CASE STUDY 1:
CONVERT (SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION)
CONVERT is an immersive learning programme funded by the UK’s Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) and comes under CITB’s Future Skills Strategy. The project aimed to reduce dangerous accidents and errors that could be life-threatening in the construction industry while also using immersive learning (IL) and innovative technologies to provide an engaging and safe learning environment, both in education and at the workplace.
The project targets more than 8000 beneficiaries – making it the largest immersive project in the construction industry. The main goal of CONVERT is to widen participation and educate young people about career opportunities and what these might look like in a future that considers sustainability as a key priority.
Learners navigate a virtual construction site that is generated using custom graphical assets from established BIM libraries. Users are set a task to build a house, an industrial unit or an offsite modular building, and then are presented with a range of building scenarios to choose from. Within the simulated environment, users can trial different layering techniques and materials from foundation to finish. Then, once they are satisfied with their build, they can witness it being built on a 1–to–1 scale and their selections being tested against four categories: 1. Sustainability, 2. Durability, 3. Comfort and Cost.
CASE STUDY 2:
HoloHUB ENGINEERING AND REMOTE COLLABORATION.
Since HoloHub Engineering is both digital and immersive in its nature, it offers a number of benefits that can help accelerate the manufacturing sector towards industrial net-zero. We are familiar with some of the difficulties that companies in the industrial sectors where suppliers and stakeholders could be situated anywhere around the globe face in regards to remote working policies and minimising their carbon footprint while sustaining the workflow.
The main advantage of our solution is that it eliminates the need for traditional face-to-face meetings and offers fully immersive and interactive virtual meetings instead. This means a sustainable alternative to the increasing requirements for remote working which has been impossible to achieve in the manufacturing sector up until now. The ability to visualise full-scale digital components in real-time collaborative spaces can also result in making the need for international travel and transporting components completely obsolete.
Moreover, our experience working on a similar solution for Stenaline showed that the improved communication and real-time feedback between designers, engineers and manufacturing staff resulted in more than 50% reduction in the number of costly mistakes and materials wasted. Being able to visualise the proportion and fit of components in a true-to-scale environment before the manufacturing process has even begun can significantly contribute to reduced wastage of time, labour, materials and money.
CASE STUDY 3: NACELLE WIND TURBINE ASSESSMENT AND EMERGENCY TRAINING.
The wind energy industry is one of today’s leading industries in the renewable energy sector, providing an affordable and sustainable energy solution. However, this industry faces several challenges, one being fire (possible due to the three elements of the fire triangle – fuel, oxygen and ignition – present and confined in the small turbine nacelle). This can cast a shadow on its green credentials and be a life-threatening risk for its engineers and operators.
Once completed the training, the users will possess an awareness of the hazards encountered when working on hydraulic, mechanical, electrical and installations systems and how to control and mitigate these hazards, preparing them for working both on and offshore in the wind power industry.
INNOVATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:
OUR GOALS FOR THE FUTURE
From reducing the carbon footprint of hard-to-access environments (especially where long-distance travel is involved) to offering a simulation to spread awareness on sustainability in various industries (e.g. renewable energy, sustainable construction…), we value the solutions immersive technology can offer towards an eco-friendly future and aim to be part of the change for our planet through our solutions.
About the Author.
