Virtual Reality Metaverse System Supplementing Remote Education Methods: Based on Aircraft Maintenance Simulation

Abstract

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a shift from in-person to remote education, with most students taking classes via video meetings. This change inhibits active class participation from students. In particular, video education has limitations in replacing practical classes, which require both theoretical and empirical knowledge. In this study, we propose a system that incorporates virtual reality and metaverse methods into the classroom to compensate for the shortcomings of the existing remote models of practical education. Based on the proposed system, we developed an aircraft maintenance simulation and conducted an experiment comparing our system to a video training method. To measure educational effectiveness, knowledge acquisition, and retention tests were conducted and presence was investigated via survey responses. The results of the experiment show that the group using the proposed system scored higher than the video training group on both knowledge tests. As the responses given to the presence questionnaire confirmed a sense of spatial presence felt by the participants, the usability of the proposed system was judged to be appropriate.