Educational Seismology through an Immersive Virtual Reality Game: Design, Development and Pilot Evaluation of User Experience
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- Is VRQuake self-explicatory, understandable and clear?
- Is VRQuake entertaining?
- Do users see a potential for education in VRQuake?
2. Literature Review
3. Materials and Methods
3.1. Design
- Kick-off scene,
- Acquaintance with the room setting and walk about,
- Experience a virtual earthquake while in the room,
- Repositioning room objects or furniture to safer places,
- Selection of items to prepack in a backpack, ready to take away when leaving home in emergency.
3.2. Development
3.2.1. Scene 1: Kick-off Scene
3.2.2. Scene 2: Acquaintance with the Room Setting and Walk about
3.2.3. Scene 3: Experience of a Virtual Earthquake while in the Room
3.2.4. Scene 4: Repositioning of Room Objects/Furniture to Safer Places (Game)
- (a)
- When the user locates an object in a wrong (unsafe) place, he/she should touch it with the virtual hand. A hit (correct object selection) is signaled by a yellow frame showing up around the object, a voice cheering ‘OK!’ and +10 award points in the points frame. Neither of these happens at a miss (wrong object selection).
- (b)
- To move the touched (yellow-framed) object to a safer place, the user ‘locks’ it to the virtual hand by pressing and holding the trigger on the back of the controller. An object thus locked may be freely moved around in the virtual room. The user selects the new, safer place and repositions the object by releasing the trigger on the controller. A hit (correct new place, as in Figure 5) is signaled by an ‘OK!’ voice message and +10 award points in the points frame. Neither happens at a miss (wrong new place); in that case, the user may lock the object and try another place.
3.2.5. Scene 5: Packing an Emergency Backpack (Game)
4. Results
4.1. Quantitative Analysis
4.2. Qualitative Analysis
4.2.1. “For Scene 3 (Virtual Earthquake) to Become More Immersive, I Would Suggest…”
4.2.2. “For Scene 4 (Object/Furniture Repositioning to Safer Places) to Become more Entertaining and/or Educative, I Would Suggest…”
4.2.3. “For Scene 5 (Emergency Backpack Preparation) to Become more Entertaining and/or Educative, I Would Suggest…”
5. Discussion
- (a)
- Along the line of experience: the need for more realistic virtual worlds that would increase immersion and the sense of presence. This need for increased fidelity of the virtual world to the physical one as well as for increased interactivity is reported in existing analogous studies such as [17,19]. Furthermore, the connection between immersion, the sense of presence and VR-facilitated learning is not superficial. Existing research has indicated that immersion, among other factors, is a strong predictor for presence, while presence is a key factor for immersive VR-facilitated learning [33]. (Tele-)presence is conversely indicated as a predictor for immersion elsewhere, [22]. It is clear that these two concepts are closely related. Finally, as concluded in [15], the increased level of immersion offered by HMD-facilitated VR makes it easier to mentally engage the participants.
- (b)
- Along the line of education: the need for more elaborate, comprehensive educational scenarios that provide feedback to the users not only in the form of game scores but also in the form of having the user face the consequences of his/her choices. This is an interesting finding of the qualitative analysis performed in the present research that needs more attention.
Limitations
6. Conclusions–Further Research
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Questions on the Overall User Experience with VRQuake (*) | ||
1. My previous experience with VR is: | null | 19 (45.2%) |
limited | 13 (30.9%) | |
medium | 6 (14.2%) | |
extended | 4 (9.5%) | |
2. I play videogames/computer games: | never | 6 (14.2%) |
scarcely | 9 (21.4%) | |
often | 14 (33.3%) | |
daily | 13 (30.9%) | |
3. This particular VR application: | left me tired and/or dizzy | 0 (0.0%) |
was marginally tolerable | 2 (4.7%) | |
did not leave me tired or dizzy at all | 40 (95.2%) | |
4. Manipulations I had to carry out in the virtual environment: | gave me a lot of trouble | 0 (0.0%) |
gave me some trouble | 1 (2.3%) | |
did not particularly trouble me | 6 (14.2%) | |
did not trouble me at all | 35 (83.3%) | |
Questions on VRQuake Scene 3 (virtual earthquake) (*) | ||
5. The virtual earthquake experience scene was self-explanatory and clear: | very much | 30 (71.5%) |
moderately | 12 (28.5%) | |
not at all | 0 (0%) | |
Questions on VRQuake Scene 4 (game of object repositioning to safer places) (*) | ||
6. The game of object repositioning to safer places(please check up to 2 answers): | was fun | 42 (100.0%) |
was educative; I did learn something new | 31 (73.8%) | |
was dull | 0 (0.0%) | |
I did not learn anything new | 9 (21.4%) | |
7. Before this game, I did not have the chance to apply my knowledge on correct furniture/object location for the case of an earthquake: | Yes | 37 (88.0%) |
No | 6 (14.2%) | |
8. This game made me think that I should move certain furniture/objects in my home to safer places: | Yes | 36 (85.7%) |
No | 6 (14.2%) | |
Questions on VRQuake Scene 5 (game of packing an emergency backpack) (*) | ||
9. The game of packing an emergency backpack(please check up to 2 answers): | was fun | 40 (95.2%) |
was educative; I did learn something new | 31 (73.8%) | |
was dull | 2 (4.7%) | |
I did not learn anything new | 11 (26.1%) | |
10. Before this game, I did not have the chance to apply my knowledge on packing an emergency backpack for the case of an earthquake: | Yes | 38 (90.4%) |
No | 4 (9.6%) | |
11. This game made me think that I should keep an emergency backpack at home, ready at all times: | Yes | 37 (88.1%) |
No | 5 (11.9%) | |
Question on the educational potential of VR (*) | ||
12. For education and training in situations that are not accessible/safe/realistic in the real world, I consider VR technology as: | ideal | 32 (76.1%) |
acceptable | 10 (23.8%) | |
questionable | 0 (0.0%) | |
unacceptable | 0 (0.0%) |
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Share and Cite
Maragkou, V.; Rangoussi, M.; Kalogeras, I.; Melis, N.S. Educational Seismology through an Immersive Virtual Reality Game: Design, Development and Pilot Evaluation of User Experience. Educ. Sci. 2023, 13, 1088. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13111088
Maragkou V, Rangoussi M, Kalogeras I, Melis NS. Educational Seismology through an Immersive Virtual Reality Game: Design, Development and Pilot Evaluation of User Experience. Education Sciences. 2023; 13(11):1088. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13111088
Chicago/Turabian StyleMaragkou, Vaia, Maria Rangoussi, Ioannis Kalogeras, and Nikolaos S. Melis. 2023. "Educational Seismology through an Immersive Virtual Reality Game: Design, Development and Pilot Evaluation of User Experience" Education Sciences 13, no. 11: 1088. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13111088