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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.
... The depth and immersion offered by modern viewers indeed promise to create a training environment emulative of real situations. Studies have, however, emphasized the importance of questioning the effectiveness of such technology when translated into real scenarios, as there have been issues related to the transferability of skills (Stojšić, 2015;Hays, 1992;Mantovani 2003;Dalgarno, 2010). ...
The Sincrony Method, introduced in Italy in 1991, represents an innovative pedagogical approach in the motor-sport sector. Connected with the theory of embodied cognition, this method highlights the complex synergy between body and cognition, considering them fundamental tools in learning. A key aspect of this approach is the interaction between peripheral visual capacity and body dynamics, particularly relevant in high-level sports education. This study, focusing on Embodied Artificial Intelligence in the sports field, used as a specialized device, aims at training peripheral vision in real contexts. In the past decade, in this field, the integration of advanced technologies such as video games or viewers has been tested with ambivalent results often related to a lack of transferability. Therefore, the application of new technologies directly in the real training environment could make motor learning more efficient. Although data are limited, the integration of Embodied A.I. for the improvement of peripheral vision, according to expert estimates, is potentially enriching. However, it must be acknowledged that, while this technology is estimated to be useful in the evolution of motor learning, it cannot replace traditional teaching. The real challenge will then consist of integrating body, mind, environment, and technology in a holistic approach to refine technical skills while respecting individual uniqueness. 1. Introduction The Sincrony method is a motor teaching methodology that was developed in Italy around 1991, although the first official text was not published until 2008. It relies on the biomechanical understanding of movement and offers a practical and integrated approach that encompasses both the motor and neurophysiological dimensions. In this method, among the various investigated aspects of movement, it highlights the importance of the interaction between peripheral vision and bodily movement. Furthermore, it emphasizes how vision training can be utilized to enhance both generic motor abilities and more complex sports skills. This methodology can be connected to the theory of embodied cognition, as it views motor practice not as a collection of isolated abilities but rather interprets it as a complex function influenced by the continuous interaction between internal perception, the external environment, and action. The implementation of the Sincrony Method within the context of embodied cognition serves to illustrate how biomechanical concepts can be effectively 44 applied in praxeology, but only if viewed through an integrative lens. With peripheral vision placed at the heart of the interaction between the individual and their environment , the Sincrony method also aligns with various theoretical models of motor physiology, underscoring the perpetual need for both internal and external feedback (Betestein, 1967; Adams, 1987). The attention to biomechanical detail, in synergy with the acuteness of visual perception, creates a motor learning system that highlights the interdependence between cognition and physical action, promoting a physical education that reflects the complex and coordinated nature of human experience.
... It makes sense to offer the possibility to place (interactive) 3D objects in such a 3D environment, which can also be interacted with in a protected, safe environment (Mantovani, & Castelnuovo 2003). In this way, digital twins can also be integrated into the 3D environment (Qi et al., 2021;Dembski, Wassner, & Letzgus, 2019). ...
In this paper, we describe a teaching scenario using a virtual environment (known also in the context of the ‘metaverse’). This is motivated by the challenges that arise during the pandemic. More and more teaching scenarios are transferred to online learning settings, which allow learning at any time and at any time. One of the possibilities are virtual 3D environment. These allow more intensive immersion than for example video conferences. Furthermore, they offer new didactic concepts, for example, for group activities. The benefit of using virtual 3D environments we demonstrate by a concrete learning scenario: the simulation of robot programming. A further advantage when using virtual 3D environments are personal assistants (conversational/ pedagogical agents), for example, to the ease the work load borne by teachers; meanwhile, this works well also with natural language due to advantage stage of artificial intelligence implementations. Keywords: e-learning, e-teaching, immersion, virtual 3D rooms, gamification, cyber-physical systems
... Virtual education generally refers to any educational method that is not confined to a specific time and place and facilitates learning. In other words, virtual education does not require a specific location for the teacher and learner and occurs with the help of hardware and software tools (Mantovani & Castelnuovo, 2003). Alternatively, virtual education refers to distance education via the internet (i.e., e-learning) through local networks where the teacher and learner are separated (Sadeghi, 2019). ...
Objective: The need for changing educational methods and increasing the use of technology in education is increasingly felt every day. The purpose of this study was to identify the challenges and opportunities of virtual education in the country. Methodology: This research employed a qualitative method (thematic analysis) and was applied in terms of its objective. The participant community in the study was selected based on specific criteria such as expertise, relevant publications, academic and non-academic experiences, etc. Thus, by reviewing the works of the expert community, 12 experts in the field of e-learning were identified as the research sample through purposeful sampling. The research instrument was semi-structured interviews, and the findings were validated and tested for reliability. Data analysis was conducted using thematic analysis with coding. Findings: The findings revealed 52 open codes, 16 axial codes, and 2 selective codes for the challenges and opportunities of virtual education identified by the experts. Challenges included (infrastructural limitations, disruption in education, low engagement, teaching content, superficial learning, and lack of social interactions), and opportunities included (simultaneous study and work, time management, spatial independence, learning flexibility, increased digital literacy, enjoyment of learning, family confidence, cost-effectiveness of learning, and reduction of environmental stress). Conclusion: It can be concluded that virtual education is an educational method that, like in-person education, has its advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, educational authorities can maximize benefits by strengthening opportunities and reducing challenges, especially when in-person education is not feasible.
... However, students in this course lack these abilities. Using AR instructional systems provides a balance of immersion and real interaction, allowing for the experiential and situational learning described by Mantovani and Castelnuovo (2003) as the "sense of presence," which can enhance users' spatial abilities. Therefore, AR is highly suitable as a tool medium for woodworking instruction and practice for novice woodworkers. ...
This is a study focusing on Taiwanese university students in the field of vocational education. The research observed a woodworking product elective course in the Department of Industrial Design at National Cheng Kung University, where most students lack relevant experience and feel confused when learning about mechanical operations, physical applications, spatial concepts, and other aspects. The "components arrangement" stage is a crucial step from paper design to actual material processing, where students arrange the spare parts of their designs on the wood to be used, in a manner suitable for machine sawing, to achieve smooth, efficient processing, material saving, and aesthetic results. This stage is also where novices spend much time and feel hesitant during practice. Therefore, this study utilized paper prototyping to conduct operational pre-testing for an augmented reality (AR) woodworking cutting and arranging tool, allowing novice woodworkers to simulate AR-assisted tool operations intuitively and gather firsthand feedback to assist novices in arranging components. Experimental records indicate that during the experiment, researchers could quickly observe defects in AR system design and make rapid adjustments. After model updates, participants could focus on task operations. Through participant interviews, it was evident that users provided positive feedback on the AR teaching tool's willingness to increase practice frequency, reduce task completion time, improve satisfaction with wood grain arrangement, and enhance operational confidence. These results align with the real-time and non-destructive nature of AR tools, enabling students to try operations without worries, eliminate spatial cognition uncertainty, and increase practice frequency to reinforce component arrangement assumptions. This study confirms that early implementation of paper prototyping in AR tool design facilitates rapid operational simulation verification and process optimization, enhancing novice woodworkers' willingness to learn and motivation to operate in material cutting and arranging. This lays the foundation for the subsequent development of AR woodworking cutting and arranging teaching tools. The study also proposes some improvements for using paper prototyping in AR simulations to make simulated operations smoother and more immersive.
... These goals are "sense of presence." [9].The concept of presence is the achieved by intensive intervention to improve sensory, illusion of going into the computer generated world and motor, cognitive and higher level-cognitive functions as depends on the convergence of multi-sensory input well as to practice in everyday activities and occupations (sight, sound and sometimes touch) in the virtual to increase participation [1,2]. Intervention is based environment. ...
Recent experimental evidence suggests that rapid advancement of virtual reality (VR) technologies has great potential for the development of novel strategies for motor rehabilitation. Virtual reality is a computer based, interactive, multi-sensory simulation environment that occurs in real time. The aim of this review was to discuss the rationale, criteria of application, limits of the available procedures and the effects of VR in the rehabilitation of patients with stroke and those with cerebral palsy (CP). Seventeen published articles from 1/1/2002 to 1/05/2010 were reviewed. Classification of the available virtual reality setups and comparison among published studies, with focus on the criteria of motor impairment and recovery assessment, rehabilitation procedures, and efficacy were reviewed. The studies completed to date support the application of VR in the treatment of patients after stroke and CP patients. The duration of the rehabilitation effects after discontinuing VR training is crucial and should be determined in controlled follow-up studies.
... Take, for instance, the annals of yesteryears; learners can be ethereally ferried to bygone empires, meandering through the cobblestones of Roman piazzas or beholding the monumental ascendancy of Egyptian pyramids [14]. Labyrinthine organic cycles or meticulous surgical choreographies can be envisioned and rehearsed without real-world liabilities in natural philosophy and medicinal arts [15]. Cartographic tutorials might unfurl as phantasmal sojourns to farflung geographies, while aspirant architects can saunter through their nascent edifices [16]. ...
With the widespread Application of Virtual Reality (VR) in education, optimizing foreign language learning in VR has become a focal point of research. This paper introduces a comprehensive theoretical framework (VR-CCL) based on constructivism and cognitive load theory to enhance foreign language learning in VR. Through a literature review, we explore the applications of VR in education, foreign language learning theories, and prior works on technology-assisted language learning. We further detail the three main components of the VR-CCL framework and validate its effectiveness through two case studies: Duolingo VR and Rosetta Stone VR. Finally, we discuss the strengths and limitations of the framework and its implications for educators and developers.
Az elmúlt évtized digitális területen történt paradigmaváltásai a legimmerzívebb technológiák alkalmazását is magukkal hozták, mint például a VR, amely az oktatásban és képzésben is megjelent. E technológia rendszeresítése és tömeges alkalmazása előtt nagyon időszerűek a VR-alapú képzéssel, oktatással és annak fizikai, valamint pszichológiai hatásaival kapcsolatos vizsgálatok. A szerző cikksorozatban mutatja be ez irányú kutatásait, amelynek első részében elemezte a virtuális valóság (VR) védelmi területen való alkalmazásának lehetőségeit. Jelen cikkben empirikus kutatásban vizsgálja, hogy mi befolyásolja a VR-alapú oktatás és képzés hatékonyságát, elemzi a felhasználót érintő lehetséges negatív hatásokat. Vizsgálja a VR-használati hajlandóság néhány kérdését annak érdekében, hogy javaslatot tegyen a VR-alapú képzés hatékonyságának növelésére és az eszközhasználat lehetséges negatív hatásainak kiküszöbölésére.
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.
