A Comparative Study of Interaction Time and Usability of Using Controllers and Hand Tracking in Virtual Reality Training
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
In general, a valuable and good experiment and usecase. I agree with the authors that controller-free hand tracking will become more and more established and is an interesting area to examine for VR training and education.
In the report, my main issue is with the interpretation of the results, most of which have a high p-value. Please see my comments in the attached PDF and I would recommend revisiting the conclusions drawn from the data.
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Abstract – please state the study purpose and study design used.
Background – are there any studies with use of controllers and/or hand gloves that you might mention? Find 1-2 of the most relevant studies that exist and place them in the background section.
When listing commercial merchandise for the first time, consider listing the name of the manufacturer and location of the headquarters of the manufacturer in parentheses next to it.
Was ethical approval obtained to conduct the study such as permission from the board or institutional review board approval?
What were the students’ learning objectives?
- methodology – was this a non-randomized or quasi-experimental design? If students were randomized, that is a strength and this should be added. Otherwise, it is not an experimental design.
can you state more about the interviewing process – was it lead by their instructor? How long were the interviews? What questions were asked?
Section 6.1 – suggest changing to “both interactions were not significantly different”
Section 6.3 – add “as”. The p-value was approximately as high, indicating that the interaction time was similar.
The Discussion section is a bit brief. Can you add a paragraph or two. Suggest subheadings of “Limitations” and “Recommendations”. Please provide your lessons learned and next steps for the readers. In the abstract, some conclusions were made about the significance of the results. In other words, you mention in the abstract that you recommend free-hand gestures as it is more natural. So, this seems like the direction you wish to proceed given the context of medical education. However, add a paragraph about this in the discussion section as it is not in your paper.
References – avoid capitalizing all words in an article title.
Overall, I found this a well-written, interesting manuscript about a novel topic that is growing. The images and tables were supportive. The manuscript is a bit short. I would suggest adding a bit more to the literature review section in the Background as well as elaborating the Discussion piece (what does it mean for other health professions educators who wish to use VR?) Great work!
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
