FAQs

  • What exactly is FirefighterVR?

    The Firefighter VR Trainings Platform under the patronage of the German Association of the factory firefighter departments (WFVD) and run by the Northdocks GmbH offers a software as a service platform for trainings in VR. It is an invitation to all firefighter brigades to explore special cases, standard or basic scenarios of their day to day life as a firefighter. You just take a computer, VR glasses and a controller to be teleported into your training environment.

  • Whom is it for and who can register?

    Any firefighter from Austria, Germany or Switzerland could register or get registered on Firefighter VR and could be using the trainings in VR. Firefighter schools, training companies and other educational institutions could use and offer trainings of firefighter VR. Besides that OEMs, supplier and dealer of the firefighter industry segment could offer VR and other content to the firefighter in a passive way. Their content is searchable on the webservice.

  • How can I register myself?

    You could find a step by step video here: https://www.firefightervr.de/pages/how-it-works. Or you start your registration by entering your email address and then follow the instructions.

  • Do I need to be a firefighter to use Firefighter VR?

    To use the trainings in virtual reality, you have to be a firefighter, volunteer or professional. As well firefighter schools, other education institutions and training companies access will be granted to offer trainings in VR to their customer.

  • Whom to contact for help?

    For help, please send an email to kontakt@northdocks.com or call us on +49-(0)172-8944500. In the near future, we will be offering an online chat service and remote desktop as a service.

  • What PC hardware is required to use the VR Trainings?

    What you need is a VR glass and a capable PC System. The VR glasses should come in as similar in functionality to Oculus Rift S or Quest or HTC Vive PRO. The PC should contain of a graphic engine that is capable to deal with 3D. Products from Nvidia such as 1060, 1660, 2060 or above should work. The processor has to be at the level of Intel Core i7 (8th generation) or AMD Ryzen 7. In case of doubt, please get in contact with us via phone or email. We are here to help and advice.

  • Does it require VR glasses to run through a training?

    Yes.

  • What VR glasses do you support on Firefighter VR?

    VR glasses that offer similar capabilities to Oculus Rift S, Quest or HTC PRO. To be on the safe side, pls contact us via email kontakt@northdocks.com or via phone.

  • Could you give any idea on cost of the hardware required?

    The cost of PC and VR Glasses including controller ranges between 1700,-€ - 2700,-€ incl. VAT (December 2020). Prices may vary country by country.

  • What is the cost of using Firefighter VR?

    You find the actual offerings and prices here: https://www.firefightervr.de/pages/pricing

  • Why is the WFVD (Professional Firefighter Assoziation Germany) present on the website? What is their role?

    The WFVD did contribute significantly to the concept of Firefighter VR and to the business model. They are member of the steering committee together with a professional industry fire department, a municipal one, one supplier and a member from Northdocks.

  • How does the registration process work?

    You could find a step by step video here: https://www.firefightervr.de/pages/how-it-works. Or you start your registration by entering your email address and then follow the instructions.

  • How can I pay the subscription to the platform?

    There are two ways to pay - 1. SEPA automatic debt. 2. By invoice. You can pay annually, every 6 or every 3 months.

  • What is the process of getting new trainings to the platform?

    Two ways for new trainings to Firefighter VR:

    1. A company, a firefighter department initiates a training based on demand they may see. The cost of development will be split between the initiator and Northdocks. The training will be developed, released in agreement with the initiator and the steering committee of Firefighter VR and then published on firefighter VR.
    2. We get approached through kontakt@northdocks.com (in the future, we will have a section on our website called "Wishes and new ideas for trainings scenarios"). We evaluate the request within the steering committee and communicate back next steps to the idea giver. In an ideal case the new idea turns into a training.
  • Is there a process to request new trainings or to voice new ideas for trainings?

    Contact us via kontakt@northdocks.com with new ideas or wishes for new trainings scenarios. When getting approached through kontakt@northdocks.com (in the future, we will have a section on our website called "Wishes and new ideas for trainings scenarios"), we evaluate the request within the steering committee and communicate back next steps to the idea giver. In an ideal case the new idea turns into a training.

  • What is special about the business modell of Firefighter VR?

    The businenss model is designed to invite all firefighter deparments/brigades to firefirghter VR and to take advantage of safe trainings in Virtual Reality:

    1. We intend to address the financial strength of each Firefighter type (professional or volunteer) with this model and that is why we call it "cooperative". That is the side of the user.
    2. When taking a look onto the side of the content and production of content, we choose a way that ensures investements to be distributed across many shoulders and investments done only once by a company. Once a new training scenario is identified, the cost of the development get split 50/50 between the initiator of a training and Northdocks. After releasing the training and publishing it on firefighter VR, the training revenue will be shared with the initiator. That gives a return to the initiator and reduces his risk.
    3. By making a new training available to all members the investment is only done once by a company.
  • What are the benefits of training in VR?

    A training in Virtual Reality isn't designed to replace the training in reality with real products. The power of VR comes out when accompanying real life training. The number of repetitions increase significantly when going virtually. At the same time it is above and beyond of passive content consumption trainings as a trainee has to act (.e.g open doors, changing valves,...) and he has to follow sequences of process steps. And that helps to internalize processes and actions for a long time in our memory. When it comes to the emergency, people don't think, but act. And the positives of training in VR are manyfold. No pollution, no preparation, no dismantling, you train at your speed and your time, you train as often as you want - repetition is the secrect sauce. And you are free where to train, office, home, fire department, your choice.

  • What is included in an annual subscription?

    The base fee includes besides the cloud service to access the trainings, the analytics as well a technical service. The technical service could be reached via email (kontakt@northdocks.com), phone (+49 (0) 2172894450) and online chat in the future. For Municipal and factory firefighter location we offer two visits from our technician over a period of 12 months. The pricing for firefighter schools and instituitions that offer training will be negotiated separately. Please, refer to the table below for more information or contact us. To give you control over the members of your site and your company with more than one site, we developed a hierachy of administration. For each site, you can appoint one administrator and he can manage the local team. That means add people, change and delete members. In case of several sites, we allow for a master admin that can aggregate all traininig activity and analyse performance and usage or quality of trainning, if needed down to an individual level. Each site admin can see the local team, the performance of the team and as well if allowed and needed, down to indivual levels. Each trainee can see his own performance and trainings history, too.

    Usage of training gets tracked in minutes of usage by person and could be aggregated for a site or all sites. It would allow to be used for accounting and distribution of cost. To take advantage of the VR Trainings on Firefighter VR, you would need a notebook or Desktop PC based on a high end Mircoprocessor and a higher end graphic solution ready for demanding 3D applications. We are here to consult you and make recommendations.

Let’s register to get the best VR Training Experience

Register
Cookies help us deliver our services. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies.