Interactive training courses for BMW

BMW wanted a training programme for internal and external participants, which would take the form of a factory tour and be designed as an interactive experience. As a subcontractor, we defined the system architecture and programmed some of the applications: the trainer app, the real-time server, the database and the remote controls. Other service providers and agencies contributed the educational concept, the content, the media technology and the games.

Challenge

The design and implementation of the remote control systems for the various participants and components proved particularly challenging. The trainer, equipped with a tablet, was to guide their teams through the tour, deliver learning content and display it on the participants’ tablets.

In addition, they were to be able to remotely control media players, lighting and games at the various stations along the tour, thereby flexibly orchestrating the overall experience.

Solution

The trainer sends control commands to the central server. From there, they are forwarded to the hardware via the appropriate protocol: we connected our own PWAs and the participants’ tablets via a socket connection, whilst the installations were connected via OSC and the lighting and media players via UDP.

Programming this complex interplay was not only a technical challenge but also an organisational one. To enable us to develop independently of the progress made by the individual service providers, we created an emulator for each component. This allowed us to test and fine-tune the entire tour sequence in a virtual environment. As soon as a game or app was completed, we simply swapped the relevant emulator for the actual component.

We developed the trainer app using Vue.js as a PWA. The advantage over a native app was that we were able to deploy minor adjustments in the background during the launch phase. The app updated automatically on launch, allowing the trainer to focus fully on the participants.

In addition to the Trainer app, we developed three further PWAs that were displayed on large LED screens:

• In the lobby, the results from both groups were celebrated with a confetti display.
• A word cloud displayed the results of the participants’ votes.
• The groups’ rankings were displayed on the All-Time Scoreboard.

All three apps were remotely controlled by the trainer and activated at the right moment.

A training app, real-time server and remote controls combined tablets, media technology, lighting and games to create a centrally orchestrated experience. Feedback from participants has been consistently positive – the varied way in which the content is delivered makes a noticeable contribution to the learning outcome.