
Ground troop training within the Army typically involves three kinds of training: live mission rehearsal, virtual or simulated training exercises (e.g., within a Humvee simulator), and constructive training, in which warfighters battle artificially intelligent enemies in a video game format. Some leading edge training missions merge these formats to offer full LVC training (live, virtual, constructive) in a mixed-reality environment in which trainees rehearse in a physically immersive setting that is augmented with simulated constructive entities and integrated with virtual entities controlled by trainees at other locations. In this pilot study, a number of human factors that contribute to a sense of immersed presence were evaluated by 12 ROTC cadets engaged in a scenario within a mixed-reality training environment. Participants were evaluated via survey, interview, and After Action Review (AAR). Participants reported reasonably high levels of involvement on several measures, and the AAR offered meaningful objective measurements. The combined results provide a rich dataset that establishes a baseline for the participants’ sense of presence and provides useful insights into the environment’s human-system interactions, thus guiding future development.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/stephen_b_gilbert/31/
This proceeding is published as Gilbert, Stephen B., Jason Pontius, Norene Kelly, Julio de la Cruz, and Hector Gonzalez. "Perception of Presence in a Mixed-Reality Training Environment." 62nd Annual Conference and Expo of the Institute of Industrial Engineers 2012. Proceedings of a meeting held 19-23 May 2012, Orlando, Florida, USA.