ellis.susan•4d agoTop Commenter

Walked into my old trade school last week and barely recognized the welding shop

Had to pick up some paperwork from the admin office. The welding shop looked totally different. All these new digital welding simulators. They had 12 of them lined up. Kids practice on screens before touching real metal. We just had scrap steel and a prayer back in 2005. I mean it's impressive but watching them learn on a screen felt weird. Did anyone else's training skip this whole VR phase?

2 comments

2 Comments

james_torres4d ago

@maryh96 is right, those simulators are crazy expensive but they sound legit. I see this kind of thing everywhere now, not just in trades. My nephew learned to drive in his mom's Prius with backup cameras and lane assist. The first time he backed up my old truck, he almost hit a trash can because he kept looking at the rearview instead of turning his head. We rely on screens to learn basic stuff now, which is great for muscle memory but sometimes you miss the feel of the real thing. The real test is still how they handle a stuck rod or a sudden wind in the booth.

maryh964d ago

Those simulator screens are $18,000 each, I looked it up after I saw them. I was all for the old way until one of the instructors let me try one. It tracks every single angle and travel speed. My first bead on actual steel back in school looked like a drunk caterpillar. Those kids are probably way more consistent before they ever strike an arc.