Immersive Disaster Training Schema Based on Team Role-Playing

Abstract

The prevalence of inevitable natural and social disasters is increasing at an alarming rate. With the proliferation of media and Internet technologies, there is a growing awareness of the importance of disaster training. The paper aims to combine the techniques of immersive Virtual Reality (VR) and team-based role-playing to demonstrate a comprehensive disaster training schema to help participants practice safety skills and learn proper decision-making skills in the face of disasters. A VR dome and cylinder combined multidisplay system iwDome was used to immerse participants and provide a view of the overall training; the role of each team was presented through the appropriate Head Mounted Display (HMD) and connected desktop. Rather than just being passive spectators or game players, the participants received puzzles in the virtual scenario that required intra-team and inter-team collaboration to be solved. The scenarios applicable to the system were not restricted to a specific type of disaster, but could be customized, revealing significant application prospects. To test the motivation for improvement, a quality assessment and user experience survey were conducted. The results indicate that participants were more engaged through cooperation in the virtual training environment and could achieve greater learning gains. The correlation of age to user studies was also confirmed. The enhanced enthusiasm of participants for what is relatively standard disaster management demonstrates the promise of using team role-playing-based VR training for vital, but otherwise tedious disaster safety training.