This paper investigates the use of Virtual Reality (VR) in an emergency service and civil protection context. We present an exploratory user study with 30 participants sourced from the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) who were tasked with completing VR training on the assembly of a rescue platform. We evaluated the time to completion, mistakes made, cognitive load, usability, motivation, and perceived helpfulness of visual guidance elements implemented in the VR environment. The results indicate a positive effect of VR training. In addition to sourcing from a pool of emergency service workers as participants for our study, we report on the participants’ feedback concerning other potential application areas for VR training in an emergency service context, which further sets our contribution apart from previous work. The paper contributes to the field of human-computer interaction by providing insights into the complex relationship between VR training and emergency service personnel.

Abstract Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly used in learning and can be experienced with a head-mounted display as a 3D immersive version (immersive virtual reality [IVR]) or with a PC (or another computer) as a 2D desktop-based version (desktop virtual reality [DVR]). A research gap is the effect of IVR and DVR on learners’ skill retention. To address this gap, we designed an experiment in which learners were trained and tested for the assembly of a procedural industrial task. We found nonsignificant differences in the number of errors, the time to completion, satisfaction, self-efficacy, and motivation. The results support the view that DVR and IVR are similarly useful for learning retention. These insights may help researchers and practitioners to decide which form of VR they should use.

The combination of Visual Guidance and Extended Reality (XR) technology holds the potential to greatly improve the performance of human workforces in numerous areas, particularly industrial environments. Focusing on virtual assembly tasks and making use of different forms of supportive visualisations, this study investigates the potential of XR Visual Guidance. Set in a web-based immersive environment, our results draw from a heterogeneous pool of 199 participants. This research is designed to significantly differ from previous exploratory studies, which yielded conflicting results on user performance and associated human factors. Our results clearly show the advantages of XR Visual Guidance based on an over 50% reduction in task completion times and mistakes made; this may further be enhanced and refined using specific frameworks and other forms of visualisations/Visual Guidance. Discussing the role of other factors, such as cognitive load, motivation, and usability, this paper also seeks to provide concrete avenues for future research and practical takeaways for practitioners.

Visual Guidance (VG) techniques in combination with Extended Reality (XR) technology promise to innovate workforce augmentation, especially in industrial environments. However, evidence-based insights from the literature remain fragmented. To provide an overview of this emerging topic, and particularly the reported outcomes of applying XR Visual Guidance (XRVG) to industrial contexts, we conducted a scoping review to identify and highlight evidence from experimental results. This review sheds light on the potential of VG as part of workforce augmentation. We propose a standardised terminology and a VG framework to categorise different techniques of XRVG, aiming to spark a discussion on how XRVG may support workers in industrial environments and identify gaps and future research opportunities to advance the topic of XRVG.