If you want to become a pilot, you have to pay a lot of money for the training. The training is expensive, especially the flights in the simulator. Such a device often costs training centers several million euros. However, this is too much money for some operators. That’s why they carry out test flights under real conditions, Fabian Riesen told the Handelsblatt . The result: a lot of accidents.
Riesen is the founder and CEO of the Swiss startup Loft Dynamics. His startup develops flight simulators that work with VR glasses. The startup’s glasses create an artificial reality so that the scenarios in the small cockpit frame can be displayed more realistically. This includes delicate scenarios such as fires in the aircraft, emergency landings in the city or night operations in wind and weather. Incidents that are difficult to practice in reality.
Ten times smaller and twenty times cheaper
Until now, pilots have often practiced in simulators, which consist of real original cockpits, are very expensive and also take up a lot of space. According to the Handelsblatt, the Swiss company’s devices are ten times smaller and twenty times cheaper than conventional exercise equipment. Precisely because a simple frame with pedal and instrument deck is sufficient. The VR glasses should do the rest.
The concept seems to be convincing: Loft Dynamics already serves customers such as Airbus Helicopters and Air Zermatt. The Zurich-based company has now raised the equivalent of around 19 million euros (20 million US dollars) from investors. American tech investors like Silicon Valley-based Craft Ventures, Earthlink inventor and millionaire Sky Dayton, and UK-based Up Ventures are leading the round. The financial injection was accompanied by a renaming of the company, which was previously called VRM Switzerland.
EU aviation authority became aware of Youtube
Fabian Riesen founded Loft Dynamics in 2016. The engineer and computer scientist previously worked for the US technology group Cisco for 21 years. Today his VR company is in the black, according to the NZZ . With the latest capital injection, the expansion abroad should be promoted. For example, they are working towards corresponding approvals in the USA. In addition, the staff is to be doubled from the current 35 people by the end of 2023. The startup is also aiming to develop simulators for other devices such as flight taxis, business jets and passenger aircraft.
Loft Dynamics has already received two approvals from the EU Aviation Safety Authority, most recently for a simulator for a widely used Airbus helicopter. This makes the Swiss startup the world’s first provider of VR-powered simulators to be qualified by a major aviation authority. According to a NZZ report, the authority is said to have become aware of the new startup simulator via a YouTube video.