This project explores the potential of virtual reality (VR) as a training tool at the crew safety & security training (CSST) department of the Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM). With a research and prototype driven approach, a VR simulation and its integration into the training programme are designed. This simulation aims to improve stress resilience and decision making skills of cabin attendants (CA), and create more personally relevant training.
The CSST department facilitates training to both cabin crew and flight crew on safety and security related theory and procedures throughout and surrounding the flight (in which this project focuses on the tasks of CAs). Interactive simulators are among the primary tools to convey knowledge and allow trainees to practice with a set of scenarios, from CPR and pre-flight checks to fire fighting and emergency cabin evacuations. The exploration of VR is grounded in the hypothesis that current simulations in the departments programme make such abstractions from reality that perceived realism and stress are deminished, and that VR could play a role in more closely approximating the complexity of real-life emergencies.
To test this hypothesis, a user study was conducted with CAs, comparing current in-cabin fire fighting training to a VR alternative. This preliminary design includes a full-scale interactive cabin environment, with multiple possible courses of action and contextual effects such as spatial sound and obscuring smoke. The study compares the two methods in regards to stress (task load, heart rate), performance and presence. The results signify an increase in experienced stress, heart rate and task load in VR, as well as a worsened performance: the study's participants tended to make more procedural mistakes and communicated poorly when in the VR environment.
One of the research findings is that VR is not as effective as physical simulators at training the nuances of (physical) interactions in procedures. Rather, its potential lies creating a virtual environment where a diverse set of events can occur, resulting in more complex and unpredictable scenarios. The simulation utilizes a room-scale collaborative VR system, enabling users to interact and move through natural motion. Trainers are enabled to create more personally relevant training, by easily creating custom scenarios using the 'Simulation Control' companion app, which also provides them with ways to control the simulation and communicate with participants that are immersed in the virtual environment. Finally, a set of tools is provided to spectate and evaluate performances in VR collectively.