World's first regulatory-approved XR air traffic control trainer: Case Fintraffic

The need for 360-degrees

Traditionally air traffic controller tower training takes place in a simulator room, where the view from the ATC tower is presented on screens or projected onto walls by projectors. Depending on the objectives and the training phase, the view can be presented from a few screens to a full 360-degrees view. When the volume of traffic in training increases and becomes more diverse, the need for a view that is as realistic and expansive as possible also increases.

Traditional 360-degree installations using multiple screens or projectors require substantial space and hardware. Finding a way to maintain expansive visual fidelity while reducing the physical footprint therefore became a key objective for the Fintraffic team.

“Our goal was to find a space- and cost-efficient solution where the quality remains at least the same, if not even improved,” explains Teemu Erkkilä, ATC simulators project lead at Fintraffic Air Navigation Services. “The possibilities offered by Varjo’s XR for data collection and analysis – especially in eye tracking – were also one of the drivers for launching the XR project.”  

Stepping into the control tower 

Using a wide range of equipment and systems at the controller workstation is a core part of tower controller operations, and the same is true in training. The ability to interact with real physical devices plays a critical role in creating effective training experiences, especially as they grow more complex.

The mixed reality solution is designed with this in mind, blending real and virtual worlds together. In practice, this means that a trainee wearing the headset can see the physical workstation and all its equipment in front of them exactly as normal, while the surrounding environment is replaced by a photorealistic virtual view of from the air traffic control tower.  

An alternative configuration takes a green-screen approach: curtains are hung on the walls of the simulator room, and the Varjo headset replaces that green background with a virtual tower environment, while all people, devices, and furniture in the room remain fully visible. In both cases, trainees interact with real equipment in a convincingly realistic operational context, without the cost or footprint of a traditional full-scale simulator environment.

The XR approach can reduce space by up to 75% and costs by up to 60% compared to a traditional simulator, while delivering the same level of training effectiveness.