Detecting and measuring emotional responses while interacting with virtual reality (VR), and assessing and interpreting their impacts on human engagement and “immersion,” are both academically and technologically challenging. While many researchers have, in the past, focused on the affective evaluation of passive environments, such as listening to music or the observation of videos and imagery, virtual realities and related interactive environments have been used in only a small number of research studies as a mean of presenting emotional stimuli. This article reports the first stage (focusing on participants' subjective responses) of a range of experimental investigations supporting the evaluation of emotional responses within a virtual environment, according to a three-dimensional (Valence, Arousal, and Dominance) model of affects, developed in the 1970s and 1980s. To populate this three-dimensional model with participants' emotional responses, an “affective VR,” capable of manipulating users' emotions, has been designed and subjectively evaluated. The VR takes the form of a dynamic “speedboat” simulation, elements (controllable VR parameters) of which were assessed and selected based on a 35-respondent online survey, coupled with the implementation of an affective power approximation algorithm. A further 68 participants took part in a series of trials, interacting with a number of VR variations, while subjectively rating their emotional responses. The experimental results provide an early level of confidence that this particular affective VR is capable of manipulating individuals' emotional experiences, through the control of its internal parameters. Moreover, the approximation technique proved to be fairly reliable in predicting users' potential emotional responses, in various affective VR settings, prior to actual experiences. Finally, the analysis suggested that the emotional response of the users, with different gender and gaming experiences, could vary, when presented with the same affective VR situation.

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Royal Navy Junior Warfare Officers (JWO) undergo a comprehensive training package in order to prepare them to be officers of the watch. One aspect of this training relates to their knowledge of the 'Rules of the Road' or 'COLREGS'; the rules for the manoeuvring and signalling that approaching vessels make in order to avoid collision. The training and assessment exercises undertaken predominantly use non-interactive static materials. These do not exercise the required skill in reconciling information from maritime charts, radar displays and 'out-of-the-window' monitoring. Consequently, performance during assessment on the VR-based bridge simulator falls short. This paper describes The Rules of the Road SIMulator (RORSIM)-a proof of concept interactive 3D (i3D) simulator developed to bridge the training gap between classroom teaching and VR bridge simulator assessment. RORSIM's differentiation and its key functionality in terms of visualisaton, physics/interaction and game mechanics are influenced by the consideration of pedagogical learning models during requirements capture. This capture is formalised by a 'Training Gap Use Case'-a graphical viewpoint using the Universal Modelling Language which can assist developers in requirements capture and development of i3D tools for existing training programmes. Key functionality, initial JWO feedback and a planned pilot study design are reported.

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