Enhancing Professional Training with Single-User Virtual Reality: Unveiling Challenges, Opportunities, and Design Guidelines

Abstract

An immersive single-user virtual reality system possesses the potential to induce a paradigm shift in the realm of professional training, particularly within safety-intensive and complex procedural domains. This innovative system offers a safe, adaptable, engaging, and efficacious training experience, thereby fostering better task performance, reduced errors, and more favorable outcomes. Our goal is to delve into the opportunities and challenges associated with such training programs, while also providing guidelines for their seamless integration into educational curricula. Three case studies were conducted to gauge the efficacy of single-user VR training: the electricians’ scenario (N=30), a spatial orientation scenario (N=20), and a medical trolley scenario (N=21). Employing mixed methodologies, encompassing workshops, semi-structured interviews, and observatory data collection, insights were gathered. The core objective of this investigation was to assess the perceptions of potential users, notably those partaking in apprenticeships or vocational training, toward prototypes of single-user VR training. The study’s findings emphasize the inherent value and constructive attributes of integrating single-user VR training within the realm of professional development. This integration fosters practical experiential learning in procedures and essential competencies for ensuring safety, resulting in enhanced training outcomes. The study showcased augmented individualized learning tempos, expanded opportunities for repetition, heightened concentration, and deeper engagement within the VR-based instructional environment. Moreover, the study underscored the crucial role of personalized design enhancements and continuous content evolution to maximize the effectiveness of VR-based training methodologies. Integral to the comprehensive evaluation was the significance of user experience and the perceived value of the VR system. In parallel with the empirical investigation, foundational design principles were derived from the challenges and prospects unveiled across all three case studies.