Union Pacific Railroad is the principle operating company of Union Pacific Corporation. Connecting 23 states in the western half of the country with over 32,000 miles of track, it is one of America’s leading transportation companies.

Working with large machinery such as locomotives is dangerous, especially for new employees. To minimize the risk of job-related injury, Union Pacific uses sophisticated training simulators to help trainees familiarize themselves with the operation of railroad equipment.

Our Oculus Rift Inspection and Training Tool is the latest in virtual reality training software, providing an immersive experience for Union Pacific employees without the risk of working with dangerous equipment.

Our system features two modes: Free View and Guided Lessons.

In Free View, trainees explore the structure of locomotives and other railroad equipment. They interact with these models by rotating them, playing animations of moving parts, and “exploding” the models to view individual components.

Guided Lessons provide trainees with a structured tour of the models complete with audio voice-overs and periodic quizzes to test their knowledge. For example, a trainee might be asked to identify a broken part of a locomotive before continuing.

Our Oculus Rift Inspection and Training Tool is an app for both Macs and PCs, powered by the Unity3D gaming engine and written in C#. It uses the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset and Myo Armband gesture controllers to give users a hands-on feel.