Evaluating a Situated Learning Approach to Immersive Virtual First Aid Training

Assigned Human-Computer Interaction eXtended Artifical Intelligence Master Thesis No Affiliation

Motivation:

Accidents and medical emergencies can occur unexpectedly and in locations where immediate professional medical help may not be available. Having a grasp of basic first aid skills is crucial as it enables individuals to respond promptly and effectively, offering immediate care that can stabilize a person’s condition until they can receive professional medical assistance. For instance, performing high-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has been proven to enhance a patient’s chances of survival [1] However, CPR performed by untrained individuals may not be optimal, reducing its effectiveness [2]. Despite its significance, studies have indicated that a considerable percentage of people lack the necessary knowledge and skills to provide adequate first aid. For example, a survey conducted by the German Federal First Aid Association (BAGEH) and the German Automobile Club (ADAC) revealed that 52% of Germans believe they are prepared to respond appropriately in an emergency situation [3]

Traditional first aid courses typically consist of nine 45-minute teaching units, where the course content varies depending on the provider. These courses usually combine theoretical aspects with practical exercises aimed at facilitating the acquisition of manual skills. However, this method of teaching first aid training has several limitations that can hinder its effectiveness in preparing individuals for emergency situations. The training can be costly, requiring specialized equipment, and can only be conducted by licensed professionals, limiting accessibility. Furthermore, the training often takes place in a controlled environment, removed from the stressors of real-life emergency situations, which may not adequately equip individuals with the skills necessary to handle high-pressure scenarios.

Related Work:

VR is used and evaluated as a tool for medical training extensively. Falah et. al. Examined a Virtual Reality and system for anatomy teaching. The developed system offers a real-time 3D representation of the heart in an interactive VR environment that provides self-directed learning and assessment tools.[4] Other VR medical training applications focus in different areas of surgery such as eye surgery [5] or dental surgery [6]. A common denominator of these different VR training applications is that they are focused on the training of medical professionals and not at the more general audience of people undergoing first aid training

A study conducted by Friberg et. al. focuses specifically on investigating the impact of stress on first aid performance, specifically regarding tourniquet application and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The researchers compared the abilities of both laypeople and professional first responders in performing these tasks under calm and stressful conditions. The researchers assessed stress levels, workload, and task performance. The results showed that tourniquet application performance remained consistent even in the presence of stress. However, certain aspects of CPR performance showed a decline in both groups when exposed to stressful conditions.[7]

Few studies have explored the use of virtual reality (VR) as a tool for first aid training. VReanimate II teaches uses nonverbal guidance instead of text or speech guides to teach the user how reanimation can be done in an emergency and evaluates the possible first aid training success [8]. Yigitbas et. al. evaluated first aid VR with different input modalities depending on the context [9].

Research Questions:

While there are a lot of potential benefits of taking a situated learning approach to VR first aid training, a lot of these benefits and the real potential, practicability, best practices still need to be shown in practice. While the literature shows examples that take the first practical steps into exploring this potential, it is still far from being truly safe and reliably feasible in practice. Many of the theoretically derived advantages remain theoretical, although the literature might give first hints, that this potential indeed exists.

Methodology:

Between subject comparative study comparing probands who trained first aid in VR in a stressful/realistic environment with probands who trained in a calm laboratory setting in terms of learning success, stress, presence, and mental load.

Tasks:

1. Literature review regarding the state of virtual reality medical training and potential learning benefits
2. Implementation of stressful training and test scenario as well as mechanics to reliably track the proband data into the existing VRescue project.
3. Development and execution of a comparative study complaining variables between calm and stressful training scenarios

Timeframe:

References

1. Abella, B. (2016). High-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation: Current and future directions. Current opinion in critical care, 22
2. Gyllenborg, T., Granfeldt, A., Lippert, F., Riddervold, I. S., & Folke, F. (2017). Quality of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation during real-life out-of- hospital cardiac arrest. Resuscitation, 120, 63–70
3. Deutsches Rotes Kreuz e.V.: Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Erste Hilfe (2021). ADAC Umfrage: Große Wissenslücken bei Erster Hilfe
4. Falah, J., Khan, S., Alfalah, T., Alfalah, S. F. M., Chan, W., Harrison, D. K., & Virtual reality medical training system for anatomy
5. Ajaj, R., Naguib, G., Banjar, A., Bds, A., & Abuzinadah. (2014). A preliminary study in using computerized dental simulators to train students at faculty of dentistry, king abdulaziz university (cit. on p. 6).
6. Hikichi, T., Yoshida, A., Igarashi, S., Mukai, N., Harada, M., Muroi, K., & Terada, T. (2001). Vitreous surgery simulator. Archives of ophthalmology, 118, 1679–81
7. Friberg, M., Jonson, C. O., Jaeger, V., & Prytz, E. (2021). The Effects of Stress on Tourniquet Application and CPR Performance in Layperson and Professional Civilian Populations. Human Factors, 00187208211021255
8. Bucher, K., Blome, T., Rudolph, S., & von Mammen, S. (2018). Vreanimate II: Training first aid and reanimation in virtual reality. Journal of Computers in Education, 6
9. Yigitbas, E., Heindörfer, J., & Engels, G. (2019). A context-aware virtual reality first aid training application. MuC’19: Proceedings of Mensch und Computer 2019, 885–888 education. 2014 Science and Information Charissis, V. (2014). Conference, 752–758

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