What started as a way to help Duke Energy natural gas employees do their jobs more safely has spearheaded a virtual reality training effort now being aimed at utilities nationwide.
Duke Energy’s team of developers pioneered and developed engaging, immersive natural gas VR training that safely simulates situations that could be hazardous in the field, in addition to saving the utility time and resources, according to Brian Weisker, chief operations officer of natural gas at Duke Energy.
“Innovation is part of the culture at Duke Energy, particularly when it comes to finding ways to do our jobs more safely,” Weisker told American Gas.
Because of COVID-19 social-distancing protocols, online and virtual learning have become more commonplace, helping set the stage for what came next.
“Since our natural gas team started VR training in 2020, we’ve seen such clear benefits that the program was expanded to include Duke Energy’s electric employees. It’s been so successful that we’ve now teamed with Industrial Training Services, an industry leader in energy training and qualification, to offer informed, customized VR programs to utilities of all sizes nationwide, under the name Virtual Crew,” Weisker said.
Companies interested in Virtual Crew can email virtualcrew@duke-energy.com for more information. —Carolyn Kimmel