Highways England creates virtual training theatre

Highways England has created a pioneering mixed reality training theatre at a new distribution centre near Ilkeston in Derbyshire. It will serve to deliver a realistic environment for the simulation and training of Highways England personnel in order to give them real-world exposure to motorway scenarios.

The training centre was installed into a repurposed 30m x 8m long rectangular office space but will move to a much larger dedicated virtual reality stage once testing is complete. The training centre combines stereoscopic 3D headsets, open-backed binaural headphones with a full procedural 3D speaker environment, fulfilled by a Martin Audio CDD system. The training space was a project that combined the skills of MagicBeans, MXT Reality and Old Barn Audio.

“For the Highways England installation we were asked to recreate the complex and dynamic sound of a real section of motorway for training purposes,” explained Gareth Llewellyn, MD at MagicBeans. “It is important that this volumetric audio simulation has both the power and the subtlety to achieve the goal of a true-to-life reconstruction of this complex procedural sound field, as well as offering trainees a realistic visceral experience of working in these hazardous environments. We trust Martin Audio speakers to deliver the necessary punch and clarity to achieve these goals in this complex spatial audio environment. The Martin Audio installation offers the right combination of power, reliability, quality and price that makes this installation such an impressive and successful experience for client and end user.”

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