Effects of interface on procedural skill transfer in virtual training: Lifeboat launching operation study

Abstract

A comparative study assessing the effect of interface type on procedural skill transfer during virtual training is presented. The aim of this research is to evaluate the transferability of two aspects of procedural skills, that is, procedural knowledge and technical skills. We established one group with a lecture and three virtual training groups with a combination of output and input devices: a monitor and keyboard/mouse, a head-mounted display (HMD) and joypad, and an HMD and wearable sensors. The task for assessment was a lifeboat launching operation that requires a participant to memorize a 10-step procedure utilizing 14 different pieces of equipment that should be manipulated in each step. Before and after training, we evaluated the participants' procedural knowledge and technical skill on a real lifeboat. The monitor and keyboard/mouse group showed the best performance in a procedural knowledge assessment that addressed visually induced recollections from the real lifeboat. Alternatively, in the assessment of technical skills that determined manipulation ability that requires word-based mnemonics, the HMD and wearable sensors group outperformed the other groups. Moreover, the results showed that the virtual training was a more efficient training format for short-term training than a lecture due to the freedom of observation viewpoint, despite simulator sickness.