Patent ID: 8512043

Claim:
A system for training and qualification of a user performing a skill-related training exercise involving body motion in a workspace, comprising: an input device operable by the user in the workspace when performing the training exercise, the input device being such as to provide the user with a physical feeling of an object normally used to perform the training exercise on a real or virtual assembly, wherein the input device is a real or dummy welding torch; a detection device positioned non-invasively with respect to the workspace, for measuring 3D angles and spatial coordinates of reference points relative to the input device and an organ of vision of the user during performance of the training exercise, wherein the detection device comprises at least two sensors having conical fields of view, at least one sensor configured to measure the 3D angles and spatial coordinates of reference points relative to the input device and at least one sensor configured to measure the 3D angles and spatial coordinates of reference points relative the organ of vision of the user; a display device viewable by the user during performance of the training exercise; a computer apparatus connectable with the input device, the detection device and the display device, the computer apparatus having a non-transitory computer readable medium with computer readable code embodied therein, for execution by the computer apparatus for: selecting a training environment related to the training exercise to be performed from a training database; adjusting variables, parameters and controls of the training environment and training exercise; monitoring use of the input device by the user; monitoring the 3D angles and spatial coordinates measured by the detection device and computing an organ of vision-object relation as a function thereof; computing a simulated 3D dynamic environment in real time as a function of the training environment selected, the simulated 3D dynamic environment reflecting effects caused by actions performed by the user on objects in the simulated 3D dynamic environment as monitored from the input device and the detection device; generating images of the simulated 3D dynamic environment in real time on the display device as a function of the organ of vision-object relation; recording data indicative of the actions performed by the user and the effects of the actions; and setting user qualification as a function of the recorded data, wherein setting user qualification comprises comparing the recorded data to a welding standard or code and granting certification if the recorded data meets or exceeds the acceptance criteria of the welding standard or code.