Being More Focused and Engaged in Firefighting Training: Applying User-Centered Design to VR System Development

Human Factors Research in Immersive Virtual Reality Firefighter Training: A Systematic Review

“…Looking to commercial systems, the evaluation of other input methods could be promising for increasing ecological validity and improving the possible transfer of physical skills; see, for example, Flaim Trainer 3 or Ludus VR 4 . While current studies (Jeon et al, 2019) are already showing promise in improving the ecological validity of firefighting training by partially incorporating these suggestions, additional research and study would be very beneficial to the field.…”

The More, the Better? Improving VR Firefighting Training System with Realistic Firefighter Tools as Controllers

“…Clifford et al [19] developed a VR-based air attack supervisor (AAS) program for firefighters that suppresses large wildfires using helicopters. Jeon et al [2] identified key requirements that need to be implemented in VR firefighting training and developed a training system that incorporates such requirements providing increased presence and immersive experience. Lovreglio et al [6] demonstrated that a VR system supporting training for the use of a fire extinguisher was more effective than training through a video with respect to knowledge acquisition, retention of information, and selfefficacy.…”

“…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]. VR has not only significantly lowered cost and space requirements compared to a real training environment but has also allowed trainees to conduct repetitive training at any time without material and environmental restrictions, further increasing its impact, educational value, and a trainee's self-efficacy.…”

“…Second, the sense of realism in the training can be low when using the standard VR controller; even if visual representation of the controller in the VR environment is the same as the real tool, the user may experience cognitive inconsistency due to tactile differences. Finally, there often exist situations in which multiple tools must be used in combination [2,7]. For example, to rescue a person, firefighters may have to use a flashlight to find their way in the smoke or use a fire axe to remove an obstacle in their way.…”

“…Therefore, the research objective of this paper is to articulate the relationship between the use of VR controllers (i.e., standard VR controllers and customized controllers that mirror real tools) and the user experience through the lenses of two human factor constructs-perceived presence and cognitive load. Our research context is firefighting training to which VR technology has started to be applied [2,[17][18][19][20]. Through interviews with firefighters, we identified four core firefighting tools used in training and in the field.…”