Comparative differences between games design and simulation design - Part 13: VR And AR with training

Introduction

So this may sound like i'm repeating myself with some of this as this specifically in regards to the training.  That is why I am not going to repeat some of the parts but I do want to go into and expand in some areas especially around the area of VR and AR.  So in this blog, I want to discuss the concept of VR and AR advancements and how they are being used within training to improve the overall training process.

Although I can write an overview / eval at the base.  It's pretty clear of the positive reinforcement that it is providing in development and training which has been written during the typing of this blog.

So a quick breakdown of the differences of AR and VR.

VR

The idea behind virtual reality comes from both of the definitions for ‘virtual’ and ‘reality’. The idea is of a ‘virtual’ environment that can be perceived as an artificial reality that we can experience as human beings. Essentially, the term ‘virtual reality’ comes around the idea of ‘near-reality’. That said, this could mean anything but it usually refers to in some industries as a specific type of reality emulation depending on what is needed.

AR

Compared to the idea of VR, the word "augment" means to increase, extend, or make better. In augmented reality (AR), the idea can be made that its in theory a different form of virtual reality (VR) where the concept of the real world is expanded or enhanced through the use of virtual elements.  The elements however are usually overlaying on top of the view of the real world through the use of a visual device.

VR / AR Training

It's more memorable

From personal experience and from research made from experts.  The view is that the memory retention of a user after a VR Experience presents signs of being higher after a experience than just a video / text based learning material.

James Clark and Allan Paivio discussed in the Education Psychology Review how memory is  fixed and improved when there is an increase in both multi-sensory and emotional input. The article discussed around the idea

As presence and emotional responsiveness increases, memory retention also improves. So with that idea in mind, it must react to the same as that the stronger the emotional reaction to a stimulus is, the stronger and easier it is to record and recall the memory is.  When subjects feel a presence in a VR experience, the idea is the same that is used within the idea of games design.

In digesis (specifically around immersion and character building), the theory is to try and make you connect specifically to the characters within the environment as well as make it feel as real as possible which if the story was well done with the character integration made you have an emotional connection to the game.  The same idea can be said within VR as well to do the same thing and integrate them.  The idea is to make the user feel like something is actually happening to them in real life, rather than simply observing.

In Experiences in Virtual Reality: a Window to Autobiographical Memory, the participants were presented with one of two choices.

• A 360-degree VR video 
• or a 2D video of a motorcycle ride. 

After presenting the feed, a test was done on the users 2 days later to specifically test memory. The results presented that the group who were given the 360 VR experience performed twice as well as the video group in the memory recollection test.

Repeatable, Controlled Exposure to Emotional, Stressful Situations

Another big part of VR is that a humans emotional and physiological response to stimuli that we receive whilst in VR can be in relation to what we can / would experience in real life situations.

An example of training senses with use of a game is walking the plank, where people were tasked with catching a cat on the plank thousands of feet in the air.  The idea to push you to face your fear whilst keeping you in a safe and protected environment.  Although just one basic example, the idea could be to use this style of training to work around the ideas of seeing a snake, entering a plane, dealing with angry customers and swimming with sharks.

Safe Place to Learn

One of the strong points and benefits to VR to other styles of training is the idea of presenting / receiving the same benefits of training within a physical environment but without the accompanying safety risks that come with working in the environment. An idea / theory is if the user suddenly becomes overwhelmed, they can easily take off the headset or adjust the experience to be less overwhelming.  This means that specific industries such as health care, military, police, and so on should prioritise finding ways to use VR for training but i'll be going into that further down the page.

Makes better learning more affordable

Virtual reality training was the sole domain of high-end commercial, government and military applications until a few years ago. In early development of VR, a comparatively simple VR headset such as the NVis SX60 which presented a 60 degree Field of View and 1280 x 1024 resolution (both eyes) cost a whopping £18.3K which is ridiculous

Compared to a few years later, modern time, the price of Oculus Rift and HTC Vive that can offer far better specs in resolution and quality for a considerable drop in price of £300 - £500 per unit.  With this big show of falling hardware prices, more developers are now turning to making VR specific content which means we will soon have a flourishing eco-system of apps that will make training more fun and engaging.

Can be implemented remotely

With trends such as BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) becoming increasingly common in today's modern ear.  The world is moving to a more decentralised workplace where people collaborate over vast distances than close proximity. Since VR headsets are becoming cheaper and mobile phones are becoming increasingly more powerful, they can be easily bought for training purposes and implemented remotely. The trainee can access/download training material from the company’s website, and use it wherever he/she wants and with cheap headset covers for phones.  Most people have a low range tech to provide some quality environments to learn / train in.

So what industries does VR / AR show strong signs of working within?

Health care Training

Since professionals within health care are specifically tasked with people’s well being, they especially need to be armed with the best knowledge and experience possible to allow them to treat and save lives. VR and AR are proving to be revolutionary new tools for training doctors and nurses in modern medical practice. Especially within a students learning and practicing to become a doctor, They are used to practicing on mannequins repetitively so gear can be worn out. With VR based training, they can practice in an interactive animated environment that responds to their actions and corrects them when needed.

Aviation Training

It's not surprising that flight sims have been used extensively to train pilots in environments and different cockpits due to the type of plane. That said, unlike the regular running PC based training via monitors, VR based training with 3D cockpits and 6 degrees of movement freedom can completely immerse a pilot in the situation.

Military Training

The issue with military training is that it can be a high-stress environment that soldiers need to operate in demands without controlling the amount of exposure as they are given the best training possible. Some of the military training within the US and possibly UK have been using off the shelf video games as training tools since the 1980s.

As an example, the US marines used a modified version of Doom 2 to teach basic combat tactics to new recruits. Another is the game "America’s Army" that came out in 2002 was used as a training and recruitment tool by the US military.

Quick Service Restaurants

As previously discussed, franchises like KFC now integrate VR training within the development for food preparation.  Although this is weird and surely be more beneficial to do on the floor training.  If many starters are preparing to do the training at the same time, with food standards the idea of making food to waste is not cost effective.

With the use of training, the idea that you can learn the process and develop the skills without food waste not only makes it more cost effective, the ability to save on time and accidents happening through food safety makes it more understandable to learn how to use the equipment in a safe manner.