Union Pacific has been building America for more than 160 years. Founded July 1, 1862, they are one of the largest railroad companies in the United States. With over 32,693 miles of track in 23 western states, Union Pacific boasts an impressive lineup of over 7,154 locomotives and a team of over 32,973 employees.

Identifying defective or faulty equipment is a safety-critical task performed by all Union Pacific engineers. However, it is challenging to train employees to perform this task as defective equipment is either repaired or discarded. A remote and easily available solution is needed to train engineers on how to inspect railroad equipment.

Our Virtual Reality Inspection Training system modernizes Union Pacific’s training by converting existing training modules into a virtual reality (VR) format, creating an engaging and immersive environment for railcar inspection. Employees practice inspections in a hands-on manner, significantly improving both safety measures and operational efficiency. By shifting traditional training into a virtual space, workers receive more interactive experiences while gaining immediate feedback on their performance.

Our solution handles user interaction across different platforms, such as the Meta Quest 3 headset and an online learning management system (LMS). Each training session generates a unique PIN, which manages a user’s details and tracks their progress. With the LMS integration, scores are automatically recorded and stored, simplifying the overall process.

The back end of the system, using Java and Spring Boot, connects to a PostgreSQL database, while the React-based interface handles the user experience and course setup. The VR headset communicates with the back end to access necessary data and submit completed course results, ensuring smooth interaction between all components.