Design Interactive, providers of augmented and virtual reality-based fleet maintenance training solutions for the transportation industry, is turning the Technology & Maintenance Council’s (TMC) National Technician Skills Competition, TMCSuperTech, into a mobile augmented reality game, the company said.
TMC is the technical council for the American Trucking Associations (ATA).
“We made the decision to create this game with Design Interactive for two primary reasons,” said Robert Braswell, TMC’s executive director. “To promote awareness of the vocation among middle and high school students who make up the next generation of vehicle maintenance personnel and to help technicians prepare for the TMCSuperTech competition by providing a hands-on training experience for the skills challenges.”
Available on Android and Apple smartphones and tablets, Design Interactive’s gamified TMCSuperTech skills challenge uses AR technology to project a fictional city with a fleet of moving trucks. As the vehicles require service, they are brought into a virtual garage where the game will ask users playing the role of a technician to execute tasks inspired by TMCSuperTech events. Points are awarded for the time trucks are repaired and for the longer they remain in service.
“Augmented reality has already had a significant impact in other industries compared to traditional training methods,” said Matt Johnston, division head of commercial solutions for Design Interactive. “For fleets, this technology helps lower labor and parts costs, increase vehicle uptime and shop productivity, and makes it easier to attract new technicians.”
Behind Design Interactive’s TMCSuperTech game experience is its AUGMENTOR transportation focused training solution, which uses augmented reality to more effectively train technicians in the environment where service and repair tasks are performed. AUGMENTOR sources content from fleet experts and ensures training consistency by bringing the best solutions onto the shop floor and enabling access to updated content for all technicians.
“With AUGMENTOR, especially as new technologies continue increasing the complexity of the repairs, tools and skills needed by technicians, fleets can reduce classroom time and training costs,” Johnston said.
“It provides technicians with knowledge in a manner that is effective and productive and leads to higher quality and shorter times for vehicle diagnosis and repair processes.”
TMC is seeking sponsors to help support the adoption of its next-generation-workforce-focused product, dubbed TMCSuperTech: The Game. There are four levels of sponsorships available. TMCSuperTech is an annual two-day event organized by TMC’s Professional Technician Development Committee. The skills competition for professional commercial vehicle technicians from all segments of the trucking industry will be held Sept 15-19 at the Raleigh Convention Center in conjunction with TMC’s Fall Meeting.
For more information on sponsorships, email [email protected].