Prototyping and Validating a Non-immersive Virtual Reality Serious Game for Healthcare Fire Safety Training

Abstract

In a healthcare context, the success of a fire safety procedure in a real-life emergency mainly depends on staff decisions and actions. One of the factors influencing staff decision-making is their training. In most healthcare facilities, safety educators use slide-based lectures as a training tool. Virtual Reality (VR) is gaining fire safety community attention for being an interesting training tool. However, few studies have assessed the effectiveness of VR-based fire safety training simulators compared with a slide-based lecture. The present research proposes a novel non-immersive VR-based training for healthcare fire safety education. This paper describes the prototyping steps required to develop a non-immersive VR serious game (SG) to train the staff of Vincent Van Gogh (VVG) hospital in Belgium. The paper finally validates the VR SG comparing its effectiveness against slide-based lecture training. 78 staff from VVG hospital in Belgium participated in this study. They were divided into two groups: Group A was trained using a slide-based lecture, and Group B was trained using the VR SG. The results indicated that the VR SG was more effective than the slide-based lecture in terms of knowledge acquisition and retention and in terms of self-efficacy increment in short and long terms than the slide-based lecture.

Appendix: Questionnaires Items and Their Source

Construct	Items	Source
Intrinsic motivation	I enjoy fire safety training activities	Deci et al. [32], Makransky and Peterson [13]
	Fire safety training activities are fun to perform
	Fire safety training activities are boring
	Fire safety training activities do not hold my attention at all
	I would describe fire safety training activities as very interesting
Self-efficacy	I am confident and I can understand the basic concepts of fire safety	Deci et al. [32], Makransky and Peterson [13]
	I am confident that I understand the most complex concepts of fire safety
	I am confident that I can do an excellent job on the assignments and tests in fire safety exercises
	I expect to do well in fire safety training
	I am certain that I can master the skills being taught during fire safety training sessions
Knowledge	If you are inside a building of the hospital centre and you noticed an object inhibiting the functioning of a fire door (or an emergency exit) in case of fire, what would you do?	–
	If you are facing a small fire which was not detected via automatic smoke detectors (i.e. no internal or external alarm), what would you do first?
	How would you perform this action?
	If a fire is announced (i.e. internal alarm only) and you are in front of a confined room where the fire was detected, what would you do first?
	If you are facing a gaze, what would you do first?
	How would you perform this action?
	If the evacuation of patients is required, where would you transport patients?
	During evacuation, if several rooms are occupied by patients, in which order would you evacuate them?
	During evacuation, if you are in a room where two patients with different degrees of mobility (i.e. a semi-ambulant patient and an immobile (or bedridden patient) patient) require your help, which one would you assist first?
	During evacuation, if you notice that you forgot a personal item such as you cell phone, what would you do?
Representational fidelity	The realism of the virtual world motivates me to learn	Lee et al. [33]
	The virtual world makes learning more interesting
	The realism of the virtual world enhances my learning
Immediacy of controls	The ability to manipulate the 3D objects in the virtual world allows me to learn better	Lee et al. [33]
	The ability to manipulate the 3D objects in the virtual world makes learning more motivating and more interesting
	The ability to manipulate the 3D objects in the virtual world in real-time helps me to learn better
Recommendations efficacy	The recommendations provided in the training experience are useful for my safety	Lovreglio et al. [22]
	Recommendations provided in the training experience are will help me to effectively act in real-life fire situations
Recommendations simplicity	I could easily learn the recommendations provided in the virtual experience
	I could easily remember the recommendations provided in the virtual experience	Lovreglio et al. [22]
	I could easily carry out the recommendations provided in the virtual experience
Perceived usefulness	Using this type of virtual reality simulation as an educational tool will enhance my learning	Davis [34]
	This type of simulation will allow me to progress at my own pace
	This type of simulation is useful as a learning supplement
Perceived ease of use	Manipulating this simulation tool is ease for me	Davis [34]
	Manipulating this simulation tool is too complicated for me
	Overall, I think this training tool easy to use
Presence	My interactions with the virtual objects seemed to be natural	Sutcliffe et al. [35]
	My experience in the virtual world seemed consistent with real-life experiences
	I was engaged in the virtual world experience
	I was involved in the experimental task to the extent that I lost track of time
Perceived enjoyment	I find using this fire simulator enjoyable	Tokel and İsler [36]
	Using this fire simulator is pleasant
	I have fun using this fire simulator
Control and active learning	This learning method helps me to have a better overview of the content learned	Lee et al. [33]
	This learning method allows me to be more active in the learning process
	This learning method allows me to have more control over my own learning
	This learning method allows promotes self-paced learning
Cognitive benefits	This simulator makes the comprehension easier	Lee et al. [33]
	This simulator makes the memorisation easier
	This simulator helps me to better apply what was learned
	This simulator helps me to better analyse the problems
Comparison with conventional training methods	I found this simulation more engaging than conventional training methods (like fire drills, non-interactive videos, health and safety inductions, recommendation leaflets, and seminars)	Lovreglio et al. [22]
	It was easy to remember the recommendations provided in this simulation compared with those provided during conventional training sessions
	I prefer fire safety training that uses this simulation over conventional training tools