Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design TechnologyWhat we experience ourselves is more likely to be recognized in the future. Researchers at Fraunhofer IPK are taking advantage of this with serious games.
When children are deeply immersed in a game, they not only have fun, they often learn something as well. After all, associations and connections are best remembered when we are not just told about them, but experience them for ourselves. What applies to children also applies to adults. This is why researchers at Fraunhofer IPK let company employees play – with building bricks. »This allows employees to quickly see themselves in the reality of even complex manufacturing companies,« explains Jens Mathis Rieckmann, a researcher in the Corporate Management division.
Anchoring knowledge haptically
The bricks are used to simulate a drilling machine factory. The drilling machine serves as an example to allow participants to experience interconnected production processes haptically and experiment with them. »Initially, the main focus was on streamlining the processes: The participants take on a traditional production process, which they streamline and optimize step by step,« says Natalie Petrusch, who is working on the serious games together with Rieckmann. »Today, ›LearnFactory 5.0‹ is all about digital networking and people at the heart of the production process of tomorrow. The ›Competitive Sustainable Manufacturing‹ project, on the other hand, focuses on sustainable value creation: What to do if a supplier loses its certification? The customer's wishes determine the duration, difficulty and focus.«