Airmen take advantage of virtual reality paint booths
Capt. Patrick Britton, 359th Training Squadron Detachment 1 commander, right, uses a spray gun and HTC Virtual Reality goggles to apply paint to a virtual aircraft part in a 3D VR trainer Dec. 12, 2018, at the unit's schoolhouse on Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. The 359th TRS Detachment 1 recently installed two 3-D virtual reality paint trainers to create a safer and more efficient way of training Airmen. The detachment graduates about 1,200 Airmen annually in the aircraft structural maintenance, low observable aircraft structural maintenance, and non-destructive inspection career fields. (U.S. Air Force photo by Randy Martin)
NAVAL AIR STATION PENSACOLA, Florida – Teaching Airmen the how-to of protecting parts and planes just got safer and more efficient at the 359th Training Squadron’s Detachment 1 here thanks to virtual reality.
Members of the detachment recently installed two 3D virtual reality paint trainers in their schoolhouse, which graduates about 1,200 Airmen annually in the aircraft structural maintenance, low observable aircraft structural maintenance and non-destructive inspection career fields.
“The technology gap between using the virtual reality system and the real thing is almost one in the same, to the point where I train students here and I have to spend less time in the hazardous waste environment,” said Tech. Sgt. Kurt Brown, aircraft structural maintenance instructor.
Maintainers require a respirator, hearing protection, eye protection and a chemical protection suit when they are inside an actual paint booth. That equipment isn’t necessary for the detachment’s VR training, which focuses on spray gun techniques.
Until October 2018, Brown and fellow instructors alternated training between a two-dimensional simulator and two real paint booths. They thought VR could improve a student’s proficiency with spray guns, while simultaneously preserving resources and delivering motivated Airmen.
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Each system costs about $32,000, which includes a computer, spray gun, HTC VR goggles, 65-inch television monitor, software and operator training with the system’s commercial vendor. This investment pays for itself within two years.
“Operating costs for our two paint booths is $35,000 annually,” said Capt. Patrick Britton, 359th TRS Detachment 1 commander.
See the full story here: https://www.aetc.af.mil/News/Article/1715619/airmen-take-advantage-of-virtual-reality-paint-booths/