Abstract
A virtual reality (VR) controller plays a key role in supporting interactions between users and the virtual environment. This paper investigates the relationship between the user experience and VR control device modality. We developed a VR firefighting training system integrated with four control devices adapted from real firefighting tools. We iteratively improved the controllers and VR system through a pilot study with six participants and conducted a user study with 30 participants to assess two salient human factor constructs—perceived presence and cognitive load—with three device modality conditions (two standard VR controllers, four real tools, and a hybrid of one real tool and one standard VR controller). We found that having more realistic devices that simulate real tools does not necessarily guarantee a higher level of user experience, highlighting a strategic approach to the development and utilization of VR control devices. Our study gives empirical insights on establishing appropriate combinations of VR control device modality in the context of field-based VR simulation and training.
Highlights
Virtual reality (VR) has gained much attention as a technology that is suitable for training services in many domains because it provides trainees with realistic experiences and methods for coping with various situations [1,2,3,4,5,6]
We aimed to understand the relationship between the VR control device modality and two human factor constructs: perceived presence and cognitive load
We developed a VR firefighting training system that works with the real firefighting tools and the standard VR controller
Summary
Virtual reality (VR) has gained much attention as a technology that is suitable for training services in many domains because it provides trainees with realistic experiences and methods for coping with various situations [1,2,3,4,5,6]. In a VR training program that includes the use of tools that have different form factors and provide different functions, relying only on the standard VR controller may have several limitations as follows. It may not fully reflect the reality of training. By limiting the experimental design to a use of the real fire hose and the standard VR controller and controlling for the number of devices (the same as two standard VR controllers), we were able to examine the effects of making one of the controllers more realistic on user experience
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