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The Sense of Presence in Virtual Training: Enhancing Skills Acquisition and Transfer of Knowledge through Learning Experience in Virtual Environments
Abstract
Recent advances in educational and training technology are offering an increasing number of innovative and promising learning environments including three-dimensional and two-dimensional virtual worlds as well as computer simulations. These environments differ a lot as to both their technological sophistication and to the types of skills taught, varying for example from immersive 3D environments of high-fidelity to simulations of complex relational situations, for the learning of "soft skills" of growing strategic interest to enterprises such as leadership, customer service, coaching, selling etc. The learning potential of virtual training relies on the possibility for learners to make a number of significant first-person experiences and to fail in a safe and protected environment. In order to be effective, the experience should seem real and engaging to participants, as "if they were in there": they should feel (emotionally and cognitively) present in the situation. The goal of this chapter is to investigate the relationships existing among the factors that are crucial to the emergence of a sense of presence in virtual training environments. This exploration aims at outlining a possible model of presence in virtual learning environments, trying to define on the one hand the key factors conveying it in training contexts and on the other hand how the sense of presence contributes to enhance learning efficacy and to support following transfer of knowledge and skills.
... Within the context of video games, higher presence seems to enhance user satisfaction, enjoyability and time spent playing [4,5]. Heightened presence has also been shown to increase usability of VR as a tool in domains such as psychology research [6,7], learning [8][9][10], training [11,12] and therapy [13,14], and in commercial advertising [15] and sensorimotor rehabilitation [16,17]. Given its growing significance, it is important to develop a better 2 Background and related work ...
Users’ emotions may influence the formation of presence in virtual reality (VR). Users’ expectations, state of arousal and personality may also moderate the relationship between emotions and presence. An interoceptive predictive coding model of conscious presence (IPCM) considers presence as a product of the match between predictions of interoceptive emotional states and the actual states evoked by an experience (Seth et al. 2012). The present paper aims to test this model’s applicability to VR for both high-arousal and low-arousal emotions. The moderating effect of personality traits on the creation of presence is also investigated. Results show that user expectations about emotional states in VR have an impact on presence, however, expression of this relationship is moderated by the intensity of an emotion, with only high-arousal emotions showing an effect. Additionally, users’ personality traits moderated the relationship between emotions and presence. A refined model is proposed that predicts presence in VR by weighting emotions according to their level of arousal and by considering the impact of personality traits.
... Questions about the results and data provided by miWe were raised by many participants, mainly regarding the transfer of skills acquired on the simulator to real-world scenarios, a critical aspect for the effectiveness of virtual reality training (Levin et al., 2014;Mantovani & Castelnuovo, 2003). Data from the related randomized controlled trial show that, after only a two-week training period with the miWe simulator in the participants' home, their wheelchair skills capacity significantly increased by 7.5%, as measured by the Wheelchair Skills Test-Questionnaire (Faure et al., 2022). ...
This study aimed to investigate clinical stakeholders’ acceptance of an immersive wheelchair simulator as a potential powered wheelchair skills training tool. Focus groups, conducted in four rehabilitation centers, were used to obtain a rich understanding of participants’ experiences and beliefs. Then, a cross-sectional survey of the simulator acceptability for clinical practice was created. Twenty-three rehabilitation therapists and clinical program directors participated in the focus groups and thirty-three responded to the survey. Participants generally expressed that use of the simulator would be complementary to training in an actual powered wheelchair, and that it could be useful for challenging situations in rehabilitation centers (e.g. anxious clients; when there is uncertainty around their potential to drive a powered wheelchair; tasks that cannot be assessed in a real-life environment). They also provided suggestions to improve the simulator (e.g. more feedback during tasks; possibility of adjusting control settings such as speed and sensitivity; possibility of adding varied control interfaces). Feedback received from key stakeholders clearly indicated that the wheelchair simulator would be complementary to training provided in a real context of use. However, some important limitations must be addressed to improve the simulator and promote its adoption by clinical programs, therapists and clients.
... Virtual reality enables users to experience situations that would either be impossible in real life (like doing a space walk [55]), too dangerous (like training as a firefighter [11,12,70]), or too expensive [75]. Several studies have shown that skills gained in virtual simulations may be successfully transferred to real life situations [42,53] and retained over a longer period of time [10]. Accordingly, virtual reality has been applied to training and learning in a broad spectrum of domains including industrial processes and security [38,40], aviation safety [10], cultural heritage [3,4], military training [54,69], Internet of Things [77] surgery [1,59,65,71], geography [39], safety procedures [10], and social interactions [36,37,64,72,73]. ...
We present an educational application of virtual reality that we created to help students gain an in-depth understanding of the internal structure of crystals and related key concepts. Teachers can use it to give lectures to small groups (10-15) of students in a shared virtual environment, both remotely (with teacher and students in different locations) and locally (while sharing the same physical space). Lectures can be recorded, stored in an online repository, and shared with students who can either review a recorded lecture in the same virtual environment or can use the application for self-studying by exploring a large collection of available crystal structures. We validated our application with human subjects receiving positive feedback.
Supplementary information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11042-022-13410-0https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-022-13410-0.
... Still, it is important to note that the second type of performance (the system's performance) is often considered as associated with the subject's in virtuo experience; for example, the analgesic effect of VR seems to be modulated by the participant's sense of presence (Gutierrez-Maldonado et al., 2010;Hoffman et al., 2004), as does the reduction of phobias (Price & Anderson, 2007;Riva et al., 2019) and the transfer effect of educational environments (Levac et al., 2019;Mantovani & Castelnuovo, 2003). Of note, the two types of performance are mutually nourishing and probably correlated. ...
The question of the relationship between the sense of presence and performance in virtual reality is fundamental for anyone wishing to use the tool methodologically. Indeed, if the sense of presence can modify performance per se, then individual factors affecting the human-computer interaction might have repercussions on performance, despite being unrelated to it. After a discussion on the sense of presence and the particularities it provokes, this work studies the psychophysiology of virtual reality. This in virtuo experience is understood according to a constitutive and reciprocal relationship with the subject's cognitive profile, made up of all the human, contextual and motivational factors impacting the processing of immersion. The role and importance of performance in virtual reality is described in this framework in such a way as to be studied methodologically. The presence-performance relationship is discussed based on previous works and analyzed in terms of attentional resources. Finally, the degree of ecological validity of the performance is described as the factor modulating the relationship between the sense of presence and performance (the Phi Angle). Limitations, applications and test hypotheses of the model are presented. This work aims to help the conceptualization of virtual reality, but also to improve its methodological framework.
... In order to enable students' immersion into the virtual learning space, the environment, the surroundings, and the objects inside the environment must be designed in a way that they are quite close to the teaching and learning environment in the real world. Users should feel emotionally and cognitively involved in the virtual environments (Mantovani & Castelnuovo, 2003). The 3DVW-based learning experience should be very realistic and built in a way that helps students feel like they have attended a real-life classroom or university campus environment to achieve better teaching and learning outcomes. ...
Three-Dimensional Virtual Worlds (3DVW) have significant promise for the development of teaching and learning environments. Educational communities have become interested in such virtual platforms, and this technology has widely benefited educational settings. This study aims to identify the factors that drive the acceptance of 3DVWs as means for distance learning by higher education students, and provides a taxonomy of such drivers. A qualitative approach was employed for data collection to enable a detailed exploration. Two data collection instruments were used in the experiment: a virtual synchronous focus group and an open-ended question. One hundred twenty-one students participated in 13 virtual focus groups, and 124 students responded to the open-ended questions. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data, and as a result, 26 factors were identified as antecedents to the acceptance of 3DVW in higher education. Those factors are then classified into 12 categories based on their definition and similarities. Twenty-one out of the 26 factors impact the user acceptance of 3DVW positively, and five factors impact it negatively. The findings of this study indicate advances in theory, methodology, and pedagogical practice.
... The VRAS app was developed for use with Android OS smartphones and an HMD; however, smartphones are generally inadequate for VR apps because of latency issues [51]. The VRAS app had an average latency of approximately 70 milliseconds, which may have degraded the user experience and negatively impacted learning [52]. ...
Background:
Public stigma against depression contributes to low employment rates among individuals with depression. Contact-based educational (CBE) interventions have been shown to reduce this public stigma.
Objective:
We investigated the ability of our Virtual Reality Antistigma (VRAS) app developed for CBE interventions to reduce the stigma of depression.
Methods:
Sixteen medical students were recruited and randomized 1:1 to the intervention group, who used the VRAS app (VRAS group), and the control group, who watched a video on depression. The depression stigma score was assessed using the Depression Stigma Scale (DSS) and Attitudinal Social Distance (ASD) questionnaire at pre- and postintervention. Feasibility was assessed in both groups and usability was assessed only in the VRAS group after the intervention. A qualitative study was performed on the acquisition of knowledge about stigma in both groups based on participants' answers to open-ended questions and interviews after the intervention.
Results:
The feasibility score was significantly higher in the VRAS group (mean 5.63, SD 0.74) than in the control group (mean 3.88, SD 1.73; P=.03). However, no significant differences were apparent between the VRAS and control groups for the DSS (VRAS: mean 35.13, SD 5.30; control: mean 35.38, SD 4.50; P=.92) or ASD (VRAS: mean 12.25, SD 3.33; control: mean 11.25, SD 1.91; P=.92). Stigma scores tended to decrease; however, the stigma-reducing effects of the VRAS app were not significant for the DSS (pre: mean 33.00, SD 4.44; post: mean 35.13, SD 5.30; P=.12) or ASD (pre: mean 13.25, SD 3.92; post: mean 12.25, SD 3.33; P=.12). Qualitative analysis suggested that the VRAS app facilitated perspective-taking and promoted empathy toward the patient.
Conclusions:
The CBE intervention using virtual reality technology (VRAS app) was as effective as the video intervention. The results of the qualitative study suggested that the virtual reality intervention was able to promote perspective-taking and empathy toward patients.
Trial registration:
University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN-CTR) UMIN000043020; https://upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000049109.
... As reviewed by Holden (2005), several studies have indicated that skills learned from simulators do transfer to the real world. 19 One of the key criteria that can lead to better skill transfer is the feeling of presence, 20 in other words the temporary suspension of disbelief such that users feel as if they were "in" the VR environment. 21 Accordingly, presence is thought to make tasks in the VR environment feel more natural and relevant to the user and therefore could enhance task training and transfer of task performance to the real world (RW) environment. ...
Virtual reality (VR) simulators can help train manual wheelchair skills. Transfer of skills from the virtual to the real world may depend on the sense of presence, or of being “in” the virtual environment.
Objectives
To compare 1) the usability (in terms of performance, overall experience, and satisfaction), as well as 2) the sense of presence, in a wheelchair simulator with two display conditions: a head-mounted display (HMD) or a computer monitor.
Methods
Sixteen healthy adults practiced in the wheelchair simulator, first with a computer monitor display and then with an HMD. Task performance, cybersickness, presence, and overall experience in VR were assessed.
Results
Four of the participants were unable to complete all tasks in the HMD condition. When comparing the two display conditions, performance was the same, except for one task (bathroom) which took longer with the computer monitor. The HMD condition was rated as significantly higher in terms of sense of presence and VR experience but provoked more intense symptoms of cybersickness.
Discussion
Use of an HMD increased symptoms of cybersickness, with small gains in wheelchair performance. Thus, the use of an HMD may be warranted for the training of wheelchair skills, if tolerated by participants.
Efficient and riskless training of healthcare professionals is imperative as the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic still rages. Recent advances in the field of Virtual Reality (VR), both in software and hardware level, unlocked the true potential of VR medical education (Hooper et al., The Journal of Arthroplasty, 2019, 34 (10), 2,278–2,283; Almarzooq et al., Virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: a disruptive technology in graduate medical education, 2020; Wayne et al., Medical education in the time of COVID-19, 2020; Birrenbach et al., JMIR Serious Games, 2021, 9 (4), e29586). The main objective of this work is to describe the algorithms, models and architecture of a medical virtual reality simulation aiming to train medical personnel and volunteers in properly performing Covid-19 swab testing and using protective measures, based on a world-standard hygiene protocol. The learning procedure is carried out in a novel and gamified way that facilitates skill transfer from virtual to real world, with performance that matches and even exceeds traditional methods, as shown in detail in (Birrenbach et al., JMIR Serious Games, 2021, 9 (4), e29586). In this work we are providing all computational science methods, models together with the necessary algorithms and architecture to realize this ambitions and complex task verified via an in-depth usability study with year 3–6 medical school students.
This study aims to identify the reality of virtual training at Bapco Company in the Kingdom of Bahrain. They measure the extent of the impact of virtual training on the existence and effectiveness of the training programs applied at Bapco Company in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The research attempts to answer the following fundamental question: "How feasible is virtual training on the reality and effectiveness of training programs at Bapco? Presenting a clear theoretical framework on virtual training as one of the recent trends in training offered in the current era. Also, showing a picture of Bapco's efforts in employing virtual training to ensure the effectiveness and realism of the training programs offered by the company. Clarify the nature of the means and methods used as much as possible. The methodology used in the training programs, the method for selecting the best of them, and the extent to which they are consistent with the training program's goal. The findings of this paper reveal some implications that emphasize the objectives of evaluating training programs and courses. In addition, the case study demonstrates the significance of planning virtual training, which increases the outputs and employee effectiveness.
Understanding how to use immersive virtual reality (VR) to support clinical practice presents a substantial challenge for the designers and users of this emerging technology. Taking this challenge, this article describes VR as a new medium: a communication medium in the case of multi-user VR and communication interface in the case of single-user VR. The core characteristics of VR as communication tool are (1) the perceptual illusion of nonmediation and (2) the sense of community. The first characteristic of a satisfying virtual environment is the disappearance of mediation, a level of experience where both the VR system and the physical environment disappear from the user's phenomenal awareness. The second characteristic is the sense of community that is developed by interaction. Through interaction that is made possible by multi-user VR, individuals find or form groups to share interests. So, information exchange becomes the carrier for expressing a self-concept and eliciting emotional support. Within this view, experiencing presence and telepresence depend less on the faithfulness of the reproduction of "physical" aspects of "external reality"-which is also a social production and not a primitive or "natural" fact-and more on the capacity of simulation to produce a context in which social actors may communicate and cooperate. The consequences of this approach for the design and the development of clinically oriented VR systems are presented with the methodological and technical implications for the study of advanced human-computer interaction.
Presence and reality judgment are two important variables to take into account in the virtual reality field. So far, scientific literature has paid (and pays) attention to the construct of presence, trying to offer assessment measures that could seize such an elusive concept. However, the concept of reality judgment has received less attention, and, frequently, it has been subsumed into the concept of presence. Not much effort has been dedicated to test whether or not both constructs refer to the same domain. Most likely there are relationships between both variables, but it is also possible that they have differentiated domains. The aim of the present work is to design a self-report measure that assesses both constructs, and to carry out the validation process with Spanish and North American samples.
In order for Virtual Environments (VE) to be efficiently developed in the areas of clinical psychology and neuropsychology, a number of basic theoretical and pragmatic issues need to be considered. The current status of VE's in these fields, while provocative, is limited by the small number of controlled studies that have been reported which apply this technology to clinical populations. This is to be expected considering it's relatively recent development, expense, and the lack of familiarity with the technology by mainstream researchers in these fields. In spite of this, some work has emerged which can begin to provide a basic foundation of knowledge which could be usefiil for guiding future research efforts. Although much of the work does not involve the use of fully immersive head mounted displays (HMD's), studies reporting PC-based flatscreen approaches are providing valuable information on issues necessary for the reasonable and measured development of VE/mental health applications. In light of this, the following review will focus on basic issues that we see as important for the development of both HMD and non-HMD VE applications for clinical psychology, neuropsychological assessment, and cognitive rehabilitation. These basic issues are discussed in terms of decision-making for choosing to develop and apply a VE for a mental health application. The chapter covers the issues involved with choosing a VE approach over already existing methods, deciding on the 'fit' between a VE approach and the clinical population, level of presence, navigation factors, side effects, generalization, and general methodological and data analysis concerns.
There is some evidence that Virtual Reality (VR) can contribute to raise interest and motivation in students and to effe ctively support knowledge transfer, since the learning process can be settled within an experiential framework. However, the practical potential of VR is still being explored: understanding how to use Virtual Reality to support training and learning activities presents a substantial challenge for the designers and evaluators of this learning technology. This chapter has the main aim of discussing the rationale and main benefits for the use of virtual environments in education and training. A number of key attributes of VR environments will be described and discussed in relationship to educational theory and pedagogical practice, in order to establish a possible theoretical basis for VR learning. Significant research and projects carried out in this field will be also presented, together with suggestions and guidelines for future development of VR learning systems. However, further research is required, both on technological side and on key issues such as transfer of learning, appropriate curriculum implementation, elements of effective VR design, and the psychological and social impact of the technology use.
