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An Investigation of the Effectiveness of Navigational Aids in a Virtual Environment

Past research emphasizes the potential of using Virtual Reality (VR) in education because of its ability to provide the user with a sense of immersion that promotes learning and growth. However, navigation in this environment has been found to be challenging. To address this issue, this pilot study developed a virtual reality based application to reinforce the knowledge of safety protocols in a manufacturing setting. This environment included a simulated assembly line, and participants were asked to identify and tag hazards including virtual workers committing safety violations. This research then investigated the effectiveness of four navigational aids using a between-subjects experimental design. Twenty participants underwent video-based training focused on potential safety violations in a manufacturing environment. They were subsequently exposed to the virtual environment and provided with training in identifying and classifying violations. The participants were then asked to identify safety hazards that were placed throughout the virtual manufacturing facility. The dependent variables included the time spent in the virtual environment, the number of violations identified, eye gaze measures, the NASA-TLX workload, and computer systems usability measures. Statistically significant differences were found for the dependent measures of number of violations identified, workload and usability. The results suggest that both maps and arrows embedded on the floor have the potential to enhance usability with reduced workload.