Virtual Reality Games Can Improve Memory Retention of Safety Instructions

vrml writes: Using a virtual reality (VR) headset to experience risky situations as immersive 3D games improves memory retention of passenger safety instructions, according to research published in the IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, and illustrated by a YouTube video. Researchers recruited occasional flyers: half of them played a VR gaming experience of an airliner water landing and evacuation, while the other half studied a real airline safety card. After one week, passengers who had studied the safety card suffered a significant loss of knowledge, while passengers who had played the VR game fully retained the safety knowledge gained. The research group has now made available its emergency water landing experience also for the Oculus Rift.

Comments

Re:Hanggliders

[Dutch Gun]

It's probably easier to simulate the practical environment and mechanics of an aircraft than a hang glider, in which you're directing the flight controls with your body instead of a mechanical flight stick or yoke. Unless you've got a virtual hang glider controller hooked up in a large virtual environment, I can see how it might not work so well. On the contrary, you can create a reasonable flight simulator experience with a PC and some reasonably inexpensive accessories.

In nearly all other forms of flight, simulators are used extensively to good effect, so I'd be careful about generalizing the lessons learned by one hang-gliding instructor.