Impact of the Fidelity of Interactive Devices on the Sense of Presence During IVR-based Construction Safety Training

Providing safety training to construction workers is essential to reduce safety accidents at the construction site. With the prosperity of visualization technologies, Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) has been adopted for construction safety training by providing interactive learning experiences in a virtual environment. Previous research efforts on IVR-based training have found that the level of fidelity of interaction between real and virtual worlds is one of the important factors contributing to the sense of presence that would affect training performance. Various interactive devices that link activities between real and virtual worlds have been applied in IVR-based training, ranging from existing computer input devices (e.g., keyboard, mouse, joystick, etc.) to specially designed devices such as high-end VR simulators. However, the need for high-fidelity interactive devices may hinder the applicability of IVR-based training as they would be more expensive than IVR headsets. In this regard, this study aims to understand the impact of the level of fidelity of interactive devices in the sense of presence in a virtual environment and the training performance during IVR-based forklift safety training. We conducted a comparative study by recruiting sixty participants, splitting them into two groups, and then providing different interactive devices such as a keyboard for a low fidelity group and a steering wheel and pedals for a high-fidelity group. The results showed that there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of the sense of presence and task performance. These results indicate that the use of low-fidelity interactive devices would be acceptable for IVR-based safety training as safety training focuses on delivering safety knowledge, and thus would be different from skill transferring training that may need more realistic interaction between real and virtual worlds.