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Virtual reality in training: an experimental study with firefighters

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Abstract

Training with Virtual Reality (VR) can bring several benefits, such as the reduction of costs and risks. We present an experimental study that aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a Virtual Environment (VE) to train firefighters using an innovative approach based on a Real Environment (RE) exercise. To measure the VE’s effectiveness we used a Presence Questionnaire (PQ) and participant’s cybersickness, stress and fatigue. Results from the PQ showed that participants rated the VE with high spatial presence and moderate realness and immersion. Signs of stress, analyzed from participant’s Heart-Rate Variability, were shown in the RE but not in the VE. In the remaining variables, there was only an indicative difference for fatigue in the RE. Therefore, the results suggest that although our training VE was successful in giving participants spatial presence and in not causing cybersickness, its realness and immersion provided were not enough to provoke a similar RE response.

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Acknowledgements

This work is financed by the ERDF – European Regional Development Fund through the Operational Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization - COMPETE 2020 Program and by National Funds through the Portuguese funding agency, FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia within project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028618 entitled PERFECT - Perceptual Equivalence in virtual Reality For authEntiC Training. All the works were conducted at INESC TEC’s MASSIVE VR Laboratory.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal

    David Narciso, José Vasconcelos Raposo & Maximino Bessa

  2. INESC TEC, Porto, Portugal

    David Narciso, Miguel Melo, José Vasconcelos Raposo, João Cunha & Maximino Bessa

  3. Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    João Cunha

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  1. David Narciso
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  2. Miguel Melo
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  5. Maximino Bessa
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Correspondence to David Narciso.

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Narciso, D., Melo, M., Raposo, J.V. et al. Virtual reality in training: an experimental study with firefighters. Multimed Tools Appl 79, 6227–6245 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-019-08323-4

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