OutStart founder and chief technology Officer John Alonso is speaking tomorrow in Hamburg, Germany to an international audience of training professionals about integrating virtual world simulations and learning content.

Alonso has been invited to the Aviation Industry Computer-Based Training Committee (AICC), a worldwide association of technology-based training pros who promote elearning standards across multiple industries.

According to Alonso, online simulations and gaming technology appeal to developers of training who want to engage learners and offer a safe environment to practice newly learned skills.

"Virtual world simulations can be incredibly engaging, but training developers should know about the integration issues and this is where elearning standards can play an important role," remarked Alonso.

"It's possible to use these standards to make virtual reality simulations look and act like any other form of training handled by content-management software."

"When AICC was formed 20 years ago, nobody envisioned the sort of 3D technology available today to trainers," he said.

OutStart, a global provider of software for learning and knowledge-sharing, says it has worked for many years to support the AICC's efforts to create and promote standards for implementing training software.

In 2006, OutStart was among the first software makers to support AICC's Package Exchange Notification Services (PENS). Software systems that adhere to PENS - a sort of universal adapter for learning content - are designed to make it easy for training professionals to create, store and exchange online training of any kind.