VR4TES: When Virtual Reality breaks barriers in Vocational Education and Training

Vocational education and training in the electrical sector faces a common challenge across Europe: preparing qualified technicians to operate in complex, high-risk environments while ensuring safety, training quality, and compliance with regulatory frameworks that, although built on common foundations, vary in their national specifics.

In this context, VR4TES (Virtual Reality for Training in the Electrical Sector) was created. A European Erasmus+ project demonstrating how Virtual Reality can serve as a unifying platform, aligning training standards, supporting labor mobility, and raising technical competencies across Europe.

The project has brought together two Spanish training centers, CPIFP Pirámide (project coordinator) and IES Juan de la Cierva, as well as SBG Dresden in Germany, and JEDU in Finland, within a shared virtual environment. This has enabled students and teachers to share practical experiences as if they were physically present in a real electrical substation. An innovative approach to learning, collaboration, and comparing professional and regulatory practices without the need for travel.

Thanks to ERAVIS, our multi-user virtual environment creation tool, Vocational Education and Training students have been able to explore the key elements of a transformer substation and learn how to operate safely in these high-risk settings.

The sessions, delivered in English by instructors from the Spanish institutions, allowed up to 15 participants to work collaboratively within the same virtual environment, fostering shared learning and cross-country cooperation.

The technological development encompassed the design and programming of the VR environment, the creation of detailed 3D substation models, and ongoing system improvements based on pilot testing with teachers and students. Throughout, the focus has been clear: ensuring that technology serves as a learning enabler, never a barrier.

One of the key milestones of the project was the development of a train-the-trainer program aimed at equipping teachers with the pedagogical skills needed to effectively use Virtual Reality. This phase was crucial to ensure the successful adoption of the tool in real educational settings.

Following the training, multiple technical and pedagogical tests were conducted, culminating in training sessions with students. These sessions validated the learning experience, demonstrating not only the system’s technical reliability but also its positive impact on student motivation, content understanding, and safety during hands-on learning.

The results achieved ensure the project’s continuity beyond its official timeline and provide a solid foundation for scaling the solution to other educational contexts and across European countries.

The impact of VR4TES can be seen on multiple levels. For teachers, it represents a significant enhancement of digital and pedagogical competencies. For students, it offers a safer, more practical learning experience that closely mirrors real-world professional scenarios. For educational institutions, it directly supports efforts toward digital transformation and internationalization.

For the electrical sector, the project contributes to the availability of better-prepared professionals with a more consistent training foundation across Europe, facilitating labor mobility and smoother adaptation to varying regulatory frameworks.

For Innovae, this project reinforces our belief in Virtual Reality as a strategic tool for Vocational Education and Training and strengthens our position as a technological partner in high-impact European initiatives.

The VR4TES experience demonstrates that the VET of the future knows no physical boundaries: it takes place in collaborative, digital, and safe environments, where learning increasingly reflects professional reality and technological innovation becomes a driver for talent development.