Dr Shiva Pedram

The advances in Virtual Reality technologies, increased availability and reducing hardware costs have diminished many of the early challenges in the adoption of VR. However, a commonly identified gap in immersive Virtual Reality-Head Mounded Display (VR-HMD) training for medical education is the confidence in the long-term validity of the applications, in particular, the acceleration of the learning curve efficacy of learning outcomes over time and actual skills translation into real environments. Research shows a wide range of ad hoc applications, with superficial evaluations often conducted by technology vendors, based on assumed environments and tasks, envisaged (as opposed to actual) users and effectiveness of learning outcomes underpinned with little or no research focusing on a requirements-driven validation approach. This presents decision-making challenges for those seeking to adopt, implement and embed such systems in teaching practice. The current paper aims to (i) determine whether medical VR training improves the skill acquisition of training candidates, (ii) determine the factors affecting the acquisition of skills and (iii) validate the VR-based training using requirement-driven approach. In this paper, we used within- and between-subject design approaches to assess the validity of VR-based surgical training platform developed by Vantari VR against requirements which have been identified to have impact on learning processes and outcomes in VR-based training. First, study and control groups were compared based on their level of skill acquisitions. Then, by tailoring a requirements framework, the system was validated against the appropriate requirements. In total, 74 out of 109 requirements were investigated and evaluated against survey, observer and stakeholder workshop data. The training scenario covered the topic of Arterial Blood Gas (ABG) collection for second-year university medical students. In total 44 students volunteered to participate in this study, having been randomly assigned to either the study or control group. Students exposed to VR training (the study group) outperformed the control group in practical clinical skills training tasks and also adhered to better safety and hygiene practices. The study group also had a greater procedural completion rate over the control group. Students showed increased self-efficacy and knowledge scores immediately post-VR training. Prior ABG training did not impact on VR training outcomes. Low levels of simulation sickness, physical strain and stress, coupled with high levels of enjoyability, engagement, presence and fidelity were identified as factors affecting the overall training experience. In terms of learning, high scores were recorded for active learning, cognitive benefit and reflective thinking. Lastly, by validating the system against 74 system requirements, the study found a user acceptance level of 75%. This enabled the identification of weaknesses of the current system and possible future directions.

The reduction of medical error in clinical procedures is a key factor in improving patient safety and health outcomes. This paper describes an empirical study that compared the human error outcomes between two novice groups of medical students performing Arterial Blood Gas collection; both groups of students were given the same traditional training (bookwork, demonstration and simulated practical), however the study group was provided with an interactive Virtual Reality (VR) practical experience developed by Vantari VR prior to the simulated practical. The results of the study showed that students who had undertaken the VR clinical skills training recorded 40% less errors during a simulated practical than the control group. The contributions of this study are threefold: 1) that VR-based clinical skills training is viable and provides improved outcomes for learners, 2) improved insights into the nature of human error in VR training and 3) prospective and retrospective error analyses are both useful in the iterative design of VR procedural training.

The latest technological advancements in the domain of virtual reality (VR) have created new opportunities to use VR as a training platform for medical students and practitioners more broadly. Despite the growing interest in the use of VR as a training tool, a commonly identified gap in VR-training for medical education is the confidence in the long-term validity of the applications. A systematic literature review was undertaken to explore the extent of VR (in particular head-mounted displays) applications for medical training with an additional focus on validation measures. The papers included in this review discussed empirical case studies of specific applications; however, these were mostly concerned with human¿computer interaction and were polarized between demonstrating that a conceptual technology solution was feasible for simulation or looked at specific areas of VR usability with little discussion on validation measures for long-term training effectiveness and outcomes. The review uncovered a wide range of ad hoc applications and studies in terms of technology vendors, environments, tasks, envisaged users and effectiveness of learning outcomes. This presents decision-making challenges for those seeking to adopt, implement and embed such systems in teaching practice. The authors of this paper then take a wider socio-technical systems perspective to understand how the holistic training system can be engineered and validated effectively as fit for purpose, through distillation of a generic set of requirements from the literature review to aid design specification and implementation, and to drive more informed and traceable validation of these types of systems. In this review, we have identified 92 requirement statements in 11 key areas against which a VR-HMD training system could be validated; these were grouped into design considerations, learning mechanisms and implementation considerations.

This study aims to investigate the effects of a virtual reality (VR)-based learning environment on learners with different preferred learning styles by measuring various dimensions of technology mediated approach. The learning outcomes were measured through academic performance, and affectively through ¿learning experience¿ and ¿perceived learning¿. ¿Learning experience¿ in VR was measured through perceived realism, immersion, interaction, presence, engagement, enjoyment, ease of use, usefulness, technology functionality, task-technology fit and attitude towards using the technology. A pretest-posttest design was employed for this study. Students were categorized based on their preferred learning style and their responses were compared. Results presented here are based on data collected from 130 students (grade 5¿11) in NSW, Australia. As the result of our analysis indicates, regardless of students¿ preferred learning style, students similarly benefited from VR and their learning experience and learning outcome did not differ significantly.

The ultimate aim of training is to improve task performance towards expert level. Novices and experts differ in their capability to understand and make sense of sensory information (for example, perception on environmental hazard). Computer-aided training, from online course to immersive simulation such as Virtual Reality (VR) [1]. van Wyk and de Villiers [2] define VR-based training environments as ¿real-time computer simulations of the real world, in which visual realism, object behavior and user interaction are essential elements¿. The use of VR-based training environments assumes that Human-Machine interaction stimulates learning processes through better experiencing and improved memorization, leading to a more effective transfer of the learning outcomes into workplace environments. However, there are many human factors (internally and externally), which have impact on the quality of the training and learning process which need to be identified and investigated. The present study was conducted with Coal Services Pty Ltd, a pioneering training provider for the coal mining industry in NSW, Australia. The research focussed on 288 rescuers and the specific training programs developed for them. In this article, initially factors affecting the quality of the training and learning process for underground mine rescuers have been identified and then measured by using pre- and post-training questionnaires. We attempted to determine how much of the trainees¿ perceived learning could be explained by pre-training (9 in total) and post-training (16 in total) factors. The relatively small size of the sample (288 observations for 17 predictors) and the high level of correlation between variables led us to Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Principle Component Analysis (PCA) has been used to investigate the underlying relationship among different variables. This technique results in factor reduction based on hidden relationships. Based on the nature of the pre-training factors mostly contributing to each component we have used the first 3 Components to create 3 new aggregated variables: ¿Positive State of Mind¿ (Component 1), ¿Negative State of Mind¿ (Component 2) and ¿Technology Experience¿ (Component 3). Similarly, based on the nature of the post-training factors mostly contributing to each component we have used the first 3 Components to create 3 new aggregated variables: ¿Positive Learning Experience¿ (Component 1), ¿Negative Learning Experience¿ (Component 2) and ¿Learning Context¿ (Component 3).

Interactive virtual reality (VR) is the most recent technology used to train workers for extreme event scenarios. VR training occurs in a safe and controlled environment and has the added benefit that it allows replicable testing of such scenarios. Like any other training method, VR based training must be evaluated. This study investigated the extent to which virtual training environment is able to address the training needs of the mining industry and overcome onsite (real world) training constraints. The present study was conducted with Coal Services Pty Ltd, a pioneering training provider for the coal mining industry in NSW, Australia. The research focused on specific training programs developed for the mine rescue brigades. These brigade teams are made up of highly specialized miner volunteers who provide the primary response to major incidents. The research framework examined the adequacy of training needs, technological capabilities and the implementation of interactive simulation. The research outcomes provide evidence-based information on the advantages and limitations of VR-based training for mining rescue brigades.