Immersive Virtual Training Research Articles

Validation of an immersive virtual reality device accepted by seniors that preserves the adaptive behavior produced in the real world.

Falls in the elderly are a major societal issue. Virtual reality appears as a relevant tool to propose gait training programs to prevent the occurrence of falls. The use of a head-mounted display allows overground walking during fully immersive virtual training sessions. Our long-term ambition is to develop gait training programs with a head-mounted display to propose enjoyable and personalized training content for the elderly. Before proposing these programs, several methodological precautions must be taken. The first concerns the supposed similarity of the adaptive behavior produced in the real world and in virtual reality. The second concerns the acceptance of the virtual reality device before and after use. Twenty older adults performed a locomotor pointing task in three conditions including a real-world condition, a virtual-world condition consisting in a replica of the real-world condition, and a virtual condition in which the locomotor pointing task was performed in a different context. From feet positions in relation to the position of a target, gait adaptability behavior was investigated. In line with previous studies, step adjustments (needed and produced) were investigated through a combination of inter-trial and trial-by-trial analyses. The results highlighted that participants adopted the same gait adaptability behavior whatever the type of environment (real vs. virtual). Gait analyses suggested the use of a generic control mechanism based on information-movement coupling. We also demonstrated that older adults accepted the virtual reality device before and after use. With these methodological locks removed, it is now possible to design training programs in virtual reality to prevent falls in the elderly.

Design and User Evaluation of Haptic Augmented Virtuality System for Immersive Virtual Training

Design and User Evaluation of Haptic Augmented Virtuality System for Immersive Virtual Training

New Equipment Training Based on Virtual-Real Fusion Training Model

In view of the phased development in college education, military training, and new equipment combat training, this paper proposes the virtual-real fusion training model of “five-in-one and step-by-step.” The five training modes, namely virtual panel training, immersive virtual training, physical (semi-physical) simulation training, training with equipped training equipment, and installation drill, are organically combined in the practical training of new equipment, which improves students’ innovation consciousness and serviceability.

Immersive virtual reality to train preservice teachers in managing students' challenging behaviours: A pilot study

AbstractThis pilot study investigated the effects of immersive virtual reality (VR) training on the classroom management ability of preservice teachers, the addition of real‐time audio feedback as reinforcement and whether preservice teachers could apply their training in an actual classroom setting. We employed the Breaking Bad Behaviours' immersive VR system to design a training situation. Managing students' challenging behaviours was the training target, and 10 preservice teachers were invited to participate (five men and five women; age range, 20–26 years). The results revealed that the immersive VR training experience improved the speed and effectiveness of the participants' management of challenging behaviours in students and enabled the participants to transfer their learning to an actual classroom setting. After the training, the teachers were more confident in halting challenging behaviours by approaching the students, taking appropriate actions and using oral commands. Real‐time audio feedback had a positive but weak influence and gave the participants a feeling of encouragement and affirmation regarding their actions; the influence of real‐time feedback is expected to be stronger if the target of the reinforcement is focused on specific classroom management strategies. Finally, more interactive student avatars should be added to the immersive VR system to enhance classroom management communication, thus making the system a more effective teacher training tool. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Virtual reality (VR) provides a high degree of realism that increases the effectiveness of teacher training simulations. Desktop VR technology has been applied in professional development for classroom management; few studies have used immersive VR for classroom management training. What this paper adds The immersive virtual training experience could improve preservice teachers' ability to handle students' challenging behaviours, and the classroom management ability learned through immersive VR can be transferred to a real classroom. Real‐time audio feedback can encourage preservice teachers and provide a feeling of achievement and affirm their actions. Implications for practice and/or policy Immersive VR simulations can be used as a training tool to provide preservice teachers with authentic classroom management practice experience. Through careful design, real‐time audio feedback can be incorporated into the immersive virtual simulation process to reinforce the target behaviours.

Effectiveness of Virtual Versus Physical Training: The Case of Assembly Tasks, Trainer's Verbal Assistance, and Task Complexity.

Virtual immersive training (VIT) systems based on gamification of tasks are increasingly employed to train assembly workers. In this article, we present a study that compares the effectiveness of virtual and physical training for teaching a bimanual assembly task and in a novel approach, we introduce task complexity (T$_{\mathrm{CXB}}$ CXB ) as an indicator of assembly errors during final assembly. In a between-subjects experiment, 100 participants were trained to assemble a 3-D cube in one of the four conditions (physical, virtual and with trainer's verbal assistance or not). The results demonstrate that the best-performing conditions, both in terms of successful assemblies and time performance, are the ones that the physical objects are included in the training, whereas no significant difference is found when the trainer's verbal assistance is present or absent during training. Additionally, we address the validity of a practical T$_{\mathrm{CXB}}$ CXB list as a tool for supporting the design of VIT systems.

Global hand pose estimation by multiple camera ellipse tracking

Immersive virtual environments with life-like interaction capabilities have very demanding requirements including high-precision motion capture and high-processing speed. These issues raise many challenges for computer vision-based motion estimation algorithms. In this study, we consider the problem of hand tracking using multiple cameras and estimating its 3D global pose (i.e., position and orientation of the palm). Our interest is in developing an accurate and robust algorithm to be employed in an immersive virtual training environment, called “Virtual GloveboX” (VGX) (Twombly et al. in J Syst Cybern Inf 2:30–34, 2005), which is currently under development at NASA Ames. In this context, we present a marker-based, hand tracking and 3D global pose estimation algorithm that operates in a controlled, multi-camera, environment built to track the user’s hand inside VGX. The key idea of the proposed algorithm is tracking the 3D position and orientation of an elliptical marker placed on the dorsal part of the hand using model-based tracking approaches and active camera selection. It should be noted that, the use of markers is well justified in the context of our application since VGX naturally allows for the use of gloves without disrupting the fidelity of the interaction. Our experimental results and comparisons illustrate that the proposed approach is more accurate and robust than related approaches. A byproduct of our multi-camera ellipse tracking algorithm is that, with only minor modifications, the same algorithm can be used to automatically re-calibrate (i.e., fine-tune) the extrinsic parameters of a multi-camera system leading to more accurate pose estimates.