New VR and AI Tools Reshaping Aviation Training at EATS 2024

The presenters in the final EATS 2024 session did justice to the title by providing a bookend to technology topics discussed in the different tracks through the two-day conference.

Loft Dynamics continues to upend the commercial aviation training market with its advancements in the use of regulator-approved VR for training. 

Fabi Riesen, the company’s CEO and founder, arrived at EATS from the recent receipt of an EASA decision to update its Aircrew Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011, removing the mandate that FFSs are to be used for helicopter training, skills tests and proficiency checks ahead of other flight simulation training devices (FSTDs).

The executive recalled his company is bringing a number of technologies and capabilities to bear across its portfolio beyond XR, to include AI, motion, digital twin and others. Of no surprise to long-time observers of Loft, the company is engaged in a project to integrate its technologies into training programs for the B737 and A320. We look forward to gaining Loft’s progress on these fixed-wing training-related projects.

Industry veteran Neil Waterman, ASTi’s commercial aviation training director, reports SATCE (Simulated Air Traffic Control Environment) is belatedly, but quickly, gaining traction in the commercial aviation space. 

The current SATCE customer mix is mismatched – 94% system installations in the military simulation market, the remaining 6% in the commercial air community.

Waterman cited ROIs from SATCE’s use in defense training environments, supporting up to a 30% reduction in time to train for first flight in one case. The progress has encouraged the team to continue maturing the product. SATCE is now supporting an FAA CRADA (Cooperative Research and Development Agreement).

The three-year study involves installation for evaluation in an FAA FTD, followed by integration into an FFS. If these efforts are successful, Team SATCE will then support an FAA study to help develop an MPL training program for a US airline.

Enter ViXR, a collaborative project between ProSimTraining Solutions and its customer IFTC.

Capt. Cengiz Arbac, IFTC’s managing director, built the requirements case for the product, noting it was an effort to better manage and expand, when necessary, simulator capacity by offloading tasks from FFSs into smaller, yet capable, FTDs.

At the same time, IFTC seeks to gain efficiencies during a time it is having difficulties finding qualified instructors, by reducing instructor hours through the use of regulator-approved, learning technology-enabled guided assessment.

ViXR, which Rene Veerman, ProSim’s CCO, said is a tool that enables aircraft procedures to be included in training events without the physical presence of an instructor and provides an interactive learning solution. ViXR is hitting other “sweet spots” in the technology learning universe discussed during EATS 2024. 

For instance, the current product iteration is equipped with Microsoft HoloLens 2 and integrates the PACE Aerospace & IT (PACE) WEAVR, a holistic platform designed for enterprises to create, manage, and play XR content experiences.

ViXR is scalable, permitting: opportunities for multiple units to participate; the move from a AR baseline to VR and MR; guided assessment and other instructional outcomes. IFTC reports eight cadets have been trained to date using ViXR with “very good results.” Further program activities will continue into 2025.