Virtual Training Environment for Gas Operatives: System Usability and Sense of Presence Evaluation

Training of gas operators in real-life settings often has associated risks to health and property. The use of a virtual environment to train gas operators has the potential to offer risk-free training. This study tests the usability of a virtual environment specifically designed to teach new gas operatives in near real-life scenarios. Thirty-two participants tested the virtual environment and performed different tasks required to complete gas safety checks. We used SUS (System Usability Scale) and sense of presence questionnaires to collect data from these participants. The SUS analysis indicated that most participants belonging to a different gender, age, and virtual reality experience groups were comfortable in the VR training environment. The sense of presence data analysis also confirmed similar results as all sense of presence factors scored high regardless of the demographics characteristics of the participants. However, there is still a need to add different scenarios to make the virtual environment into a comprehensive training course.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Ikram Asghar

Oche A Egaji

Luke Dando

Mark G Griffiths

Phil Jenkins

Conference

Publication date: July 2021

Publication date (Print): July 2021

Pages: 139-143

Affiliations

[0001]University of South Wales

CEMET, Treforest, Wales, UK

[0002]GATC Ltd.

Taff Business Centre, Wales, UK

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/HCI2021.14

SO-VID: a4a2f544-a16b-4907-ac85-679a23d6d63d

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: 34th British HCI Conference

Conference acronym: HCI2021

Conference number: 34

Conference location: London, UK

Conference date: 20th - 21st July 2021

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: Post-pandemic HCI – Living Digitally

History

Product

1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/HCI2021.14

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

REFERENCE

I. Asghar, O. A. Egaji, L. Dando, M. Griffiths, & P. Jenkins (2019). A Virtual Reality Based Gas Assessment Application for Training Gas Engineers. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Information Communication and Management.
A. Bangor, P. T. Kortum, & J. T. Miller (2008). An empirical evaluation of the system usability scale. Intl. Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 24(6), 574-594.
M. Cha, S. Han, J. Lee, & B. Choi (2012). A virtual reality based fire training simulator integrated with fire dynamics data. Fire Safety Journal, 50, 12-24.
L. Dando, I. Asghar, O. A. Egaji, M. Griffiths, & E. Gilchrist (2018). Motion rail: a virtual reality level crossing training application. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 32nd International BCS Human Computer Interaction Conference.
J. A. Fredricks, P. C. Blumenfeld, & A. H. Paris (2004). School engagement: Potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Review of educational research, 74(1), 59-109.
N. Harrati, I. Bouchrika, A. Tari, & A. Ladjailia (2016). Exploring user satisfaction for e-learning systems via usage-based metrics and system usability scale analysis. Computers in Human Behavior, 61, 463-471.
M. Kizil, & J. Joy (2001). What can virtual reality do for safety. University of Queensland, St. Lucia QLD.
N. Nachar (2008). The Mann-Whitney U: A test for assessing whether two independent samples come from the same distribution. Tutorials in quantitative Methods for Psychology, 4(1), 13-20.
E. Ronchi, M. Kinateder, M. Müller, M. Jost, M. Nehfischer, P. Pauli, & A. Mühlberger (2015). Evacuation travel paths in virtual reality experiments for tunnel safety analysis. Fire Safety Journal, 71, 257-267.
C.-G. Safety (2018). CO-Gas Safety’s Statistics on Deaths and Injuries. Retrieved from http://www.co-gassafety.co.uk/data/
J. Sauro (2011). Measuring usability with the system usability scale (SUS).
E. Viirre, & M. Ellisman (2003). Vertigo in virtual reality with haptics: case report. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 6(4), 429-431.
B. G. Witmer, & M. J. Singer (1998). Measuring presence in virtual environments: A presence questionnaire. Presence, 7(3), 225-240.
J. Xu, Z. Tang, X. Yuan, Y. Nie, Z. Ma, X. Wei, & J. Zhang (2018). A VR-based the emergency rescue training system of railway accident. Entertainment Computing, 27, 23-31.

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] I. Asghar, O. A. Egaji, L. Dando, M. Griffiths, & P. Jenkins (2019). A Virtual Reality Based Gas Assessment Application for Training Gas Engineers. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Information Communication and Management.

[2] A. Bangor, P. T. Kortum, & J. T. Miller (2008). An empirical evaluation of the system usability scale. Intl. Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 24(6), 574-594.

[3] M. Cha, S. Han, J. Lee, & B. Choi (2012). A virtual reality based fire training simulator integrated with fire dynamics data. Fire Safety Journal, 50, 12-24.

[4] L. Dando, I. Asghar, O. A. Egaji, M. Griffiths, & E. Gilchrist (2018). Motion rail: a virtual reality level crossing training application. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 32nd International BCS Human Computer Interaction Conference.

[5] J. A. Fredricks, P. C. Blumenfeld, & A. H. Paris (2004). School engagement: Potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Review of educational research, 74(1), 59-109.

[6] N. Harrati, I. Bouchrika, A. Tari, & A. Ladjailia (2016). Exploring user satisfaction for e-learning systems via usage-based metrics and system usability scale analysis. Computers in Human Behavior, 61, 463-471.

[7] M. Kizil, & J. Joy (2001). What can virtual reality do for safety. University of Queensland, St. Lucia QLD.

[8] N. Nachar (2008). The Mann-Whitney U: A test for assessing whether two independent samples come from the same distribution. Tutorials in quantitative Methods for Psychology, 4(1), 13-20.

[9] E. Ronchi, M. Kinateder, M. Müller, M. Jost, M. Nehfischer, P. Pauli, & A. Mühlberger (2015). Evacuation travel paths in virtual reality experiments for tunnel safety analysis. Fire Safety Journal, 71, 257-267.

[10] C.-G. Safety (2018). CO-Gas Safety’s Statistics on Deaths and Injuries. Retrieved from http://www.co-gassafety.co.uk/data/

[11] J. Sauro (2011). Measuring usability with the system usability scale (SUS).

[12] E. Viirre, & M. Ellisman (2003). Vertigo in virtual reality with haptics: case report. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 6(4), 429-431.

[13] B. G. Witmer, & M. J. Singer (1998). Measuring presence in virtual environments: A presence questionnaire. Presence, 7(3), 225-240.

[14] J. Xu, Z. Tang, X. Yuan, Y. Nie, Z. Ma, X. Wei, & J. Zhang (2018). A VR-based the emergency rescue training system of railway accident. Entertainment Computing, 27, 23-31.

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