Warp VR: immersive VR trainings with 360˚ video and 3D technology
Operating from the iconic Van Nelle Factory building in Rotterdam, Warp VR develops training solutions based on virtual reality technology, 360˚ video and gamification.
On-the-job trainings wherever you like. Based on realistic, interactive scenarios that involve real-life experiences and emotions. Occasionally, trainees will have to ‘dust themselves off’ and try again. Metaphorically speaking, of course. “A resuscitation exercise becomes a lot more realistic when you’re surrounded by panicking people than when you’re practising with a PowerPoint video and a dummy.”
The best way to learn is by doing, by immersing yourself in an unfamiliar situation, and by going through trial and error until you get results. But you do need those situations – and they aren’t always at hand. This, in a nutshell, is what inspired Warp VR CGO Guido Helmerhorst to start his own company five years ago.
360˚ video
At the time, Guido was still working for KLM. He saw how difficult it was to fulfil various training needs when it came to issues like safety, managing teams or dealing with aggression. Often, it’s more or less impossible to set up a realistic training situation. Then an experience he once had led the proverbial light bulb to go off in his head. Guido: “Back in 2014, I attended a concert by Paul McCartney – the first performer to use 360˚ video for the benefit of his audience. It felt like you were up there on stage with him: you could literally look down on his keyboard! It felt very special. But it wasn’t interactive yet at that point.”
Guido recognised the potential of this technology. With interactive 360˚ video, you could create locations and situations that feel real to the user. And these could furthermore be used anywhere in the world. It presented all sorts of opportunities for training. “I envisioned a library filled with knowledge and skills. You can open this depository at any given time to access and use a specific situation and scenario. We don’t introduce the trainee to the situation; rather, we provide the trainee with a true-to-life situation.”
Immersive, 2D or 3D
Warp VR offers fully immersive training solutions, which can be presented in 2D via a smartphone or tablet, for example. But they really come into their own when experienced in a 3D environment, through a special headset. “Everything becomes a lot more realistic, and you can really interact with your surroundings and other people you encounter there. The scenario reacts to your decisions and actions, presenting a new situation in response – which you then react to in turn,” explains Guido. “Take an emergency and evacuation scenario during a cabin fire, for example. The panic that this may cause – with all the associated pressure and emotions – can make it feel very real indeed. The effect is hard to describe even.”
Warp VR’s solutions combine two components: software and hardware. The software comprises the various programs, the knowledge base and scenarios. The hardware consists of Warp VR’s optional 3D headset, as well as resources like tablets and other devices. Users can open the training in 2D or VR format via an app. “The core of our programme is formed by software that we provide to our clients and partners. They can use this software to develop their own trainings. In addition, we offer fully developed turnkey solutions: a ‘finished product’ in other words. No matter which option the client goes for, the resulting trainings can be used to make an impact that aligns with its specific context.”
From basic idea to further development
Warp VR’s home base is Rotterdam, which is no coincidence according to Guido: “We got the basic idea for Warp VR during a brainstorming session at CIC Rotterdam, one of those creative hotspots. It was a real ‘back-of-a-beer-coaster’ moment. We first started in 2017, working from an office at Delft University of Technology via the tech incubator programme YES!Delft. This three-month programme helped us find our way around the region’s IT and Tech ecosystem, make new connections and offered us a context within which we could receive visiting delegations and the like. This is also how we landed our first clients – KLM, Shell, NS, Tata Steel. They were eager to drop by, since they could have a look behind the scenes at YES!Delft. Business was good, and we were thinking about moving into our own office. And then Covid-19 broke, and everything changed.”
Developing 'soft skill' trainings
Like many other start-ups, the pandemic forced Warp VR to put various projects that were already in the pipeline on the back burner. The company also decided to give notice for its office space at YES!Delft. In the period that followed, Warp VR concentrated on keeping its head above water. As well as developing projects on its own platform, which it planned to roll out as soon as things started picking up. “We were bootstrapped, financing everything ourselves,” remembers Guido. To survive this challenging period, Warp VR stepped up the development of generic trainings: the company’s bread and butter at the time. “This mainly concerned soft skill trainings like learning to delegate, virtual team management trainings and dealing with resistance. But also alternatives to existing conventional ERT trainings, which any organisation can now access via the Warp VR store. ”
Great fit with Rotterdam
When things started returning to normal in 2021, it was time to think about a new office, and a new home base. It didn’t take long before Rotterdam came into the picture, and a fresh injection of capital by several angel investors meant that Guido and his team could move into their own office that very same year. Warp VR opted for the Van Nelle Fabriek. “This puts us very close to the action. Different industries and potential clients, other companies working in Creative and Tech, various networks… plus the talent that you desperately need if you want to keep growing as a start-up. Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences and Delft University of Technology are all nearby. As it is, Warp VR and Rotterdam are a great fit: the city is home to all sorts of operational companies, there’s the port, the maritime cluster, the associated industries and the STC (Shipping and Transport College, Eds.), the logistics chains… this is where we find our partners and clients. You could say that we can handle the entire process from Rotterdam: from design to development, to bringing the product or service to market.”
“Warp VR and Rotterdam are a great fit: the city is home to all sorts of operational companies, there’s the port, the maritime cluster, the associated industries, the logistics chains… this is where we find our partners and clients.”
Warp VR is still busy exploring how it can best tap into – and contribute to – Rotterdam’s unique ecosystem. “We definitely see ourselves as an international company. One of our colleagues even works from Mexico. We see a lot of opportunities in advancing together with other companies within Rotterdam’s various networks. And we greatly benefit from our interaction with Rotterdam Partners, who co-organises programs like Globaliser and activities like trade missions for start-ups and scale-ups with international ambitions, such as the recent incoming mission from Singapore. We contact the trade team of Rotterdam Partners for research, for instance, or with questions about internationalisation. And they’re also handy for personal connections. It allows us to stay in the loop, and you discover all sorts of promising opportunities when you get together.”
Enough talk, let’s get started
And Rotterdam suits Warp VR in other ways too, according to Guido. “I love this town. There’s less blah-blah here, Rotterdammers are very down-to-earth. Enough talk, let’s get started: that sort of thing. Try and try again. This city has a good vibe. Its strength lies in taking – and being able to take – the initiative. Take that first brainstorming session at a creative hotspot, for instance. We hung in there when times were tough, and look at where we are today. Yes, we feel right at home in Rotterdam. We’re a good fit.”
Photos on this page: Rotterdam Partners, Warp VR, Edo Landwehr, Guido Pijper, Iris van den Broek
