IVRY Launches 7 New VR Lessons

March 28, 2024

 IVRY Technologies, a division of IDEAL Electrical, is launching seven new virtual reality (VR) lessons in Canada as part of its Virtual Electrical Training (VET) Series 2 training module. The cutting-edge training will serve as a learning resource for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) training centers across Canada.

IVRY Technologies collaborated with the National Electrical Trade Council (NETCO) to ensure that the learning content was aligned with the school curriculum. The new VR lessons will supplement classroom learning and provide an additional immersive teaching tool for the schools.

“We are delighted to continue this journey with our partners at NETCO and are looking forward to expanding our reach together,” said Sean Bernard, National Sales Manager – Canada at IDEAL Industries, Inc. “As we release the VET 2 training module and roll out the IVRY platform to IBEW Training Centres across Canada, the collaboration between our organizations has been incredible. The feedback provided by NETCO throughout the development phase of VET 2 was imperative and allowed IVRY to develop this groundbreaking platform to best meet the needs of IBEW apprentices and their instructors.”

The seven VR lessons center around the topic of conduit bending. Each lesson emphasizes skills critical to making an accurate conduit bend, such as applying take-up and multiplier calculations, measuring and marking the conduit, aligning the bender correctly, and orienting the bender in the proper direction. The complexity of the bends increases throughout the module, encouraging students to apply skills learned in earlier lessons to more complicated scenarios. Throughout the experience, students will use digitally recreated professional tools from IDEAL Electrical™ to achieve their learning objectives.

The seven lessons each teach a different conduit bend, including:

1. 90º Stub-Up using the Arrow Method
2. 90º Stub-Up using the Star Method
3. Back-to-Back 90 Bends
4. 3 Bend Back-to-Back
5. Offset Bend
6. 3 Bend Saddle
7. 4 Bend Saddle

The lessons are available to complete in both guided mode and test mode. In guided mode, students are walked through the process with a step-by-step voiceover, an interactive tablet with helpful tips and calculations, and clear indicators in the virtual environment. However, in test mode, students must retain the knowledge they learned to complete the assigned scenario on their own. Students that make a critical mistake will need to start over, encouraging them to work carefully and accurately. Once the student finishes, both the student and their instructor will receive a report in the learning management system to track the student’s accuracy.

“The constructive feedback provided within the LMS will help guide instructors to identify specific areas requiring classroom review and individualized remediation,” said Chris Swick, the executive director of the National Electrical Trade Council. “The portability of this VR training is ideal for training centres of all sizes and significantly reduces expensive consumables while apprentices are honing their skills in the virtual environment.”

IVRY Technologies worked with Groove Jones, an XR and Spatial Computing development company based in Dallas, Texas, to develop the conduit bending lessons.

“The new lessons incorporate the latest VR best practices and represent a natural continuation of the groundbreaking electrical training we established with VET Series 1,” said Alan Zantout, Director of Innovation and Technical Services at IDEAL Industries, Inc. “Through a collaborative effort with NETCO, we have created an immersive and precision-oriented learning program that prepares students for the jobsite and will lead to a reduction in material waste.”

IVRY Technologies previously launched four lessons on branch circuit wiring in July 2022. The VET Series 1 module covers topics such as installing a single-pole switch, a switched receptacle, two three-way switches controlling a light, a GFCI and more. Since the lessons’ release, numerous electrical trade schools across the U.S. and Canada have successfully used the training to supplement their learning curriculums.

IVRY Technologies is pleased to expand its learning offerings with the 7 conduit bending lessons and will continue to actively develop additional content to meet the needs of electrical trade schools across North America.

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