Our Industrial Life
We investigate how data and technology are shaping the present and future of the industrial economy. Join hosts Rebecca Ahrens and Joe Renshaw as we talk with experts from critical industries—from water and power to manufacturing, pharmaceutical production, and beyond—about the cutting-edge industrial technologies that are changing how engineers keep the everyday parts of life running.
Our Industrial Life
XR training and the future of industrial work
Attempts to meld virtual spaces and physical reality so far have struggled to take hold. For all the ingenuity behind projects like Google Glass, the metaverse, and the Apple Vision Pro, they’ve often felt like technologies in search of a purpose. Professor Nick Kelling, an engineer turned researcher, may have found one. Rebecca and Joe spoke to him about the limitations and possibilities of extended reality in the industrial sector.
About our guest
Nick Kelling is a Professor of Human Factors Psychology at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. His research focuses on the use of VR/XR/AR technologies for training psychomotor skills and the use of technology in environments where education and entertainment goals coexist. In his nearly two decades of research, he has collaborated with college athletics, computing and aerospace companies, amusement parks, zoos, and NASA. Nick is an author of more than 30 published works within education, human factors, and engineering receiving multiple grants from the US National Institute of Health and NASA.
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