Swimming pools are a popular place for leisure and sport, especially in summer. But people do not only head to the water when temperatures are high. Indoor pools are year-round destinations for exercise and relaxation. To keep these pools clean and hygienic, however, a great deal of maintenance work is required behind the scenes.
One particularly important aspect is water treatment with chlorine. Chlorine removes a wide range of contaminants and, in the quantities used, does not pose a health risk. To do this, the substance is added to pool water from compressed gas cylinders. When one of these gas cylinders is empty, it has to be replaced. This process should be practised thoroughly to prevent incidents – because pure chlorine gas, on the other hand, is highly hazardous to health and must not be allowed to escape.
Nuremberg’s municipal pools are among the many swimming facilities across Germany that need to train for exactly this scenario. The problem is that practical opportunities to replace gas cylinders do not arise very often. They are only possible when a cylinder is actually empty, which usually happens too rarely for regular, reliable training sessions.
Additional challenges also come into play: responding to gas leaks is difficult to practise because escaping chlorine gas is simply too dangerous. Training sessions are also tied to the location of the cylinders and cannot be carried out just anywhere. According to Stefan Grodzki, the training manager responsible at NürnbergBad, there had simply been a lack of practical alternatives that would allow such training sessions to be conducted safely, with as much independence from time and place as possible.
What was needed, then, was an uncomplicated, always available and risk-free solution for practising cylinder changes.
A New Training Approach with VR
This solution was found through collaboration with Immerzed GmbH. The Hamburg-based company specialises in developing customised, individual virtual reality applications for training and education. In an initial meeting at the end of 2025, both sides outlined a shared project concept. The Immerzed team first gained an overview of the challenges facing the pool operators that needed to be solved. They then defined the desired content and functions, along with a sprint-based schedule featuring realistic milestones and the flexibility to make course corrections “on the go”.
When developing the training simulation, Immerzed was able to draw on a wealth of experience from building its own applications. As a result, work progressed productively in the weeks and months following the project launch. During this period, regular discussions were held with the responsible stakeholders at NürnbergBad to review the quality and direction of the work. In close coordination, both parties repeatedly evaluated every interim step and then defined new cornerstones for the next sprint. This approach is not only the key to a trusting and collaborative partnership, but ultimately also leads to a high-quality, solution-oriented final product.
Chlorine Gas Cylinder Simulation at the Highest Level
This final product was ready for use after just a few weeks. Not only was the development pace impressive – the scope of the training application is equally compelling:
Step-by-step simulation of all necessary actions for replacing a gas cylinder, including required tools and a clean-up function
Training either with guidance to learn skills or without assistance to recall existing knowledge
Incorrect operation is possible; realistic gas leakage and alarm in the event of excessive concentrations
Support for controllers and hand tracking, intuitive controls and a space-saving training environment
“The final acceptance meets our expectations. We were able to test the product extensively, and requests for changes were implemented without any issues,” Grodzki comments on the results of the collaboration with Immerzed.
The training manager is currently introducing the first users to the basics of virtual reality. A comprehensive evaluation of practical use in training operations is still pending, but first signs are promising. Initial test runs already indicate that apprentices perform significantly better when learning technical terms if they train in virtual reality at the same time: “The VR solution is very well received by our apprentices because it is a genuine tool with a strong practical focus.”
High motivation and enjoyment of learning are important prerequisites for successful training. Combined with ease of use, location independence and visualisation possibilities that only VR can offer, the new training method is off to a promising start. Towards the end of the year, a comprehensive assessment is expected on how the application performs in real-world use. Even now, however, the project is impressive proof of the usefulness and added value of virtual reality in vocational training.
Compressed Gas Cylinder Change Showcase
Are you also a pool operator and would like to use this simulation, or do you think your organisation could benefit from a custom VR training application?
Feel free to contact us easily, without obligation and free of charge using the contact form below. We will get back to you as soon as possible to discuss together how you, too, can efficiently integrate virtual reality training into your everyday apprenticeship and training activities.
