Immersive VR Safety Experience for APPEA Conference

About the Project

EVENT:

APPEA Conference & Exhibition 2021

SECTOR:

Oil & Gas / Energy / Safety & Training

CHALLENGE:

At large industry conferences like APPEA, exhibitors face a common problem:

How do you meaningfully engage visitors in a crowded, noisy environment and ensure the message actually sticks?

For ERGT Australia, the challenge was even more complex. They needed to communicate critical helicopter ditching procedures, a high-risk, high-stakes safety scenario, to conference attendees in a way that was:

Accurate
Time-efficient
Memorable
and suitable for an exhibition floor.

Traditional displays and videos could explain the procedure, but they couldn’t test decision-making or recall the moments that matter most in a real emergency. This project was a unique one, as it was aimed to be used during the APPEA conference, where ERGT would have their Sikorsky helicopter on site.

SOLUTION:

Sentient Computing partnered with ERGT Australia to design a conference-ready virtual reality (VR Training) experience that transformed a passive safety message into an active scenario.

The result, accomplished using advanced VR training technology, was a custom VR helicopter ditching simulation, purpose-built for the APPEA exhibition environment.

Visitors were guided through a helicopter ditching scenario where they were required to:

Observe pre-ditch procedures
Make decisions under time pressure
and recall and execute steps correctly

The entire experience was designed to take no more than two minutes per participant, making it ideal for high-traffic conference conditions. At the end of the experience, participants received a graded result, providing immediate feedback on how well they recalled and applied the procedures.

Designed for the Conference Floor

This experience wasn’t a training simulator adapted for an event; it was designed specifically for exhibition use.

Key design considerations included:

Short play loops to maximise throughput
Clear onboarding and exit points to keep queues moving
High-impact visuals to attract attention from the aisle
Simple controls suitable for first-time VR users
Hygiene and staffing considerations for continuous public use

The result was an immersive experience that could run consistently throughout the event while remaining accessible to a wide audience.

OUTCOME:

The VR simulation experience became a focal point of the ERGT stand, drawing attendees in and creating natural opportunities for deeper conversations.

Outcomes included:

High engagement per hour compared to traditional displays
Strong emotional responses from participants experiencing the scenario
Immediate, meaningful discussions around safety readiness and workforce training
Clear differentiation from the surrounding exhibition stands, standing out as an innovator in immersive learning

By asking visitors to do rather than just watch or listen, the experience reinforced the importance of correct procedure in a way that was both memorable and measurable.