The Effects of Haptic and Visual Aiding on Psychomotor Task Strategy Development During Virtual Reality-Based Training

Abstract

The objective of this work was to observe how haptic and visual assistance in virtual reality (VR) task performance can affect individual strategy selection. Participants received psychomotor training with a VR simulation of a block design (BD) test, as part of the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale for Intelligence. Training included one of three forms of assistance: haptic, visual, or a combination of both. Strategy was evaluated in terms of accuracy in orienting blocks in pattern reproduction. Results revealed participants to develop personal strategies when receiving only haptic assistance. When receiving visual assistance, participants tended to rely on the aiding instead of a strategy. Participants performed best with visual assistance and showed significant improvement during training, based on the aiding. Participants also performed well with the combination of haptic and visual assistance, but showed little improvement during training. The results confirm that properly-designed assistance can help users with different perceptual styles (e.g., field dependence) benefit from more efficient strategies.