VR educational game in public awareness campaign preventing the spread of COVID-19 – a pilot study

Abstract

Within a few years, virtual reality (VR) has generated a lot of interest. With the development of this technology, many opportunities for its use have arisen. Among the most popular applications, one can also mention education. The typical VR approach in education involves applying games to increase the learner's involvement and motivation. The question is whether engaging in a virtual reality game designed for a public awareness campaign can help the participants enhance their assessment of social distancing measured in meters, potentially aiding in the reduction of COVID-19 transmission. The Sustainable Development Goals have been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, impacting almost all countries around the world. This has led to changes in political and health priorities as well as research strategies. For this purpose, a pilot study was conducted on 4 people in the game created in the Unity engine. The respondents’ reactions were examined with the use of the following EEG indices - Engagement, Arousal, Valence, and Approach-Withdrawal were used. As a result, it was obtained that the created game can improve the assessment of distance by the respondents. Therefore, we can conclude that applying virtual reality games can teach people to follow certain rules and contribute to slowing down the spread of COVID-19.