This paper provides an introduction to the technology of virtual reality (VR) and its possibilies for education and training. It focuses on immersion as the key added value of VR, and analyzes what cognitive variables are connected to immersion, how it is generated in synthetic environments, what immersion is, and what its benefits are. The central research question is the value of tracked, immersive visual displays over non-immersive simulations. The paper provides a brief overview of existing VR research on training and transfer, education, and procedural, cognitive and maintenance training.

Immersive training systems: Virtual reality and education and training

Effects of participating in virtual environmentsa review of current knowledge

The terms "simulator" and "VR" are typically used to refer to specific types of virtual environments (VEs) which differ in the technology used to display the simulated environment. While simulators and VR devices may offer advantages such as low cost training, numerous studies on the effects to humans of exposure to different VEs indicate that motion sickness-like symptoms are often produced during or after exposure to the simulated environment. These deleterious side effects have the potential to limit the utilization of VE systems if they jeopardize the health and/or safety of the user and create liability issues for the manufacturer. The most widely used method for assessing the adverse symptoms of VE exposure is the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ). The method of scoring the symptoms reported by VE users permits the different sickness symptoms to be clustered into three general types of effects or subscales and the distribution or pattern of the three SSQ subscales provides a profile for a given VE device. In the current research, several different statistical analyses were conducted on the SSQ data obtained from 21 different simulator studies and 16 different VR studies in order to identify an underlying symptom structure (i.e., SSQ profile) or severity difference for various types of VE systems. The results of the research showed statistically significant differences in the SSQ profiles and the overall severity of sickness between simulator and VR systems, which provide evidence that simulator sickness and VR sickness represent distinct forms of motion sickness. Analyses on three types of simulators (i.e., Fixed- and Rotary-Wing flight simulators and Driving simulators) also found significant differences in the sickness profiles as well as the overall severity of sickness within different types of simulator systems. Analyses on three types of VR systems (i.e., HMD, BOOM, and CAVE) revealed that BOOM and CAVE systems have similar sickness profiles, which are different than the HMD system profile. Moreover, the results showed that the overall severity of sickness was greater in HMD systems than in BOOM and CAVE systems. Recommendations for future research included additional psychophysical studies to evaluate the relationship between various engineering characteristics of VE systems and the specific types of sickness symptoms that are produced from exposure to them.

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Identification Of System Design Features That Affect Sickness In Virtual Environments

This paper reports on the effectiveness of haptic feedback in a low-cost virtual-reality training environment for military and emergency personnel. Subjects participated in simulated exercises for clearing a damaged building, implemented using a modified commercial videogame engine and USB-compatible force and vibration feedback devices. With the addition of haptic feedback, subjects made fewer procedural errors and completed some tasks more rapidly. Initially, best results were obtained with vibration feedback. After modifications to the collision detection and display algorithm, force feedback produced equivalent results and was preferred by a majority of subjects.

Reducing error rates with low-cost haptic feedback in virtual reality-based training applications

: The Canadian Forces have recognized the importance of simulator training as a cost-effective alternative to real training; yet the effect of display simulation on visual perception is not fully understood. Fighteen subjects participated in an experiment to determine if training, in the form of immediate feedback, improved distance estimation to muzzle flashes in a simulated NVG environment. Testing was performed on a PC desktop computer using software that simulated a large open grassy field. Subjects were exposed to three flash types; five flashes, single flash, and a prolonged flash. Flashes were presented to the subjects both above and below the horizon. Significant improvement was shown in the experimental group's accuracy; this accuracy persisted over two weeks but with notable deterioration. Contrary to expectation the perception of a single flash resulted in significantly greater accuracy than the prolonged flash. This experiment reinforces the effectiveness of simulation as a tool in preparing soldiers. A bibliography of the topic is included.

Distance Estimation to Flashes in a Simulated Night Vision Environment

A research testbed developed to investigate the use of virtual environment (VE) technology for army training is described. The objectives of the testbed and the first experiments conducted using the testbed are described, in which performance data is collected as participants complete a variety of basic tasks: vision (acuity, color vision, distance estimation, and search); location (walking and flying through structures); tracking and object manipulation (placing and keeping a cursor on an object, and using it to move objects); and reaction time. >

B.S. Blau

Papers

A research testbed for virtual environment training applications