Maritime Warfare School: UK Navy : Rounds Inspection Simulation

Abstract: The Maritime Warfare School asked Caspian Learning to develop a serious game that reduces the “shock” new recruits experience during their first days on the ship and improves speed-to-performance in conducting a Weapons Engineering round.

Introduction

The Maritime Warfare School (MWS) at HMS Collingwood is part of the Royal Navy’s Flag Officer Sea Training organisation, and its mission is not to be taken lightly: “To train Officers and Ratings for the Fleet who are ready to fight and win.” To achieve this mission, MWS uses a potent strategy: combining theoretical classroom studies with practical work.

To remain true to its purpose, MWS is in a constant state of performance improvement, searching out gaps between training and real life at sea. One of the gaps MWS recognised was new and recent recruits had little or no opportunity to experience day-to-day life on board a ship such as the type 23 frigate and had no understanding of the ship’s layout and how to navigate from one area to another. Consequently, MWS asked Caspian Learning to develop an immersive learning simulation that exposes learners to a type 23 frigate and some of the core daily tasks that new and recent recruits will perform during their first visits out to sea. MWS’s primary objectives for the simulation were to:

• Reduce the “shock” that learners experience during their first days on their assigned ship
• Improve speed-to-acceptable-performance in conducting a Weapons Engineering Health and Safety round on board a type 23 frigate

What Thinking Worlds did for the Maritime Warfare School

To meet MWS’s objectives, Caspian Learning developed an high-fidelity, photo-realistic immersive 3D interactive game titled “Weapons Engineering Round – Immersive Learning Simulation”. The game was developed using Caspian’s core Thinking Worlds™ technology. In the instructor-led mode, trainers present the type 23 frigate simulation, leading learners through many of the ship’s compartments such as the Combined Radar Office and Gyro Room, and they guide learners through a typical round. In the free play mode, learners navigate for themselves, immediately discovering that on board the ship is a saboteur creating faults in the machinery and putting the ship’s crew in danger. Learners must find and fix the errors, locate the saboteur, and disarm his bomb before time runs out. In doing so, learners explore the ship and its cramped noisy compartments, interact with the equipment they will use on the job, and assemble knowledge about the critical importance of the machines.

Outcome:

• Learners are immersed in the high-fidelity 3D world of the type 23 Navy frigate to experience real chapters of Navy life.
• Learners gain information, exhibit knowledge, and experience the tight accommodations of the frigate.
• Learners collect and refer to life-like reference material to complete the round – just as they would on duty.
• Learners determine the types of diagnoses that are best for specific machines and they select the correct solution for errors. In other words, the art, sounds, learning, and game mechanics directly, and thickly, link the actions of the player to the learning objectives while they enjoy themselves.

“Weapons Engineering Round Immersive Learning Simulation” has set a new standard in training games. It combines console type graphics and interactivity with real curriculum areas and outcomes. Additionally, by offering two modes, Instructor-Led and Free Play, the game bridges the gap between traditional training and millennial training and engages audiences of all demographics. In doing so, it has also proven the concept – that all of this can occur quicker and at a much lower cost than traditional simulations and virtual realities. As a result of the achievements of the game, the Royal Navy intends to position it as a recruiting prime tool – showcasing it as the present and future training for new sailors.