Lincoln Electric has added a cutting-edge new product to its education lineup. The Voyage Arc Virtual Reality Welding Headset is an interactive, immersive classroom platform that introduces students to welding fundamentals. The tool is designed to spark interest in careers involving welding by enabling tech-savvy students to learn in a virtual setting that many of them already enjoy in real life – an amusement park.
In addition to the immersive experience, the Voyage Arc headset incorporates video gaming elements to keep the student motivated. As the learner masters each lesson, they are rewarded with “Spark” points they can use to customize their helmets. As they don the Voyage Arc all-in-one headset, students leave the distractions of the classroom behind and are transported to a realistic, virtual amusement park where they are tasked with “welding” park equipment such as a roller coaster, Ferris wheel, sky drop ride or bumper car before earning a virtual ride.
“Lincoln Electric is committed to ensuring that as experienced welders retire, the next generation is ready and qualified to take their place,” said Denise Sirochman, Product Manager, Lincoln Electric. “The Voyage Arc headset enables us to reach up-and-coming generations of learners and get them excited about careers in welding by letting them experience it for themselves in a safe, fun and engaging way.”
Each student takes a self-guided tour through the amusement park by following narration and interactive instructions, stopping along the way to take 10 individual lessons. With visual cues and repetitive knowledge checks, students are introduced to the common welding techniques of GMAW and SMAW and learn critical skills such as travel speed, position and contact tip to work distance. The student practices each technique and then uses their new skills to repair familiar rides.
The self-paced, microlearning lessons are delivered in bite-sized bursts and enable students to easily save their progress and quickly pick up where they left off. The lessons can be individually selected and repeated as needed.
Topics covered include:
- Introduction to safety and elements of PPE
- Learning about common joints
- Introduction to GMAW
- Introduction to SMAW
The Voyage Arc VR Career Exploration Tool is classroom-ready and can be incorporated into existing lesson plans or used as the foundation for new curricula. The optional LAN system and software enables instructors, who do not need to be proficient in welding themselves, to monitor and view student scores, skills comprehension and completed lessons, and track the entire class’s progress with a simple dashboard. The headsets are available in sets of 10 and 20, so that ideally each student can have their own headset.