Serious lectures from funny computer games

30 November 2009

Bruno Vigário, FEUP / Real Games, Porto, Portugal – mai04009@fe.up.pt, bruno.vigario@realgames.pt
Miguel Pereira, Real Games, Porto, Portugal – miguel.pereira@realgames.pt
Luís Correia, Real Games, Porto, Portugal – luis.correia@realgames.pt
António Pessoa de Magalhães, IDMEC Pólo FEUP, Porto, Portugal – a.p.magalhaes@fe.up.pt

ABSTRACT: A rewarding but not trivial goal and a highly interactive and realistic virtual environment are central to a successful and addictive computer game. These can also be the key ingredients for modern hands-on and risk free lectures in industrial control, making easier to teach, assess and enforce good thinking and improved practices. The paper describes the development of an educational virtual training system simulating five industrial plants that features cutting-edge 3D real-time graphics, physics and sound. The goal is to make plants work by developing the proper controlling software. The bonus is a funny but very realistic and interactive virtual environment from where trainees get a real and serious sense of how their programming actually works... or not.

Keywords: Virtual environments, computer games technologies, interactive training systems, control education and training.