Physiologically-Driven Audiovisual Changes in Virtual Reality Radiation Source Location

The availability of virtual reality (VR) technology at the consumer level is enabling its adoption for training and educational purposes. In particular, VR is showing promise in scenarios that are difficult or impossible to replicate in real life due to physical constraints related to specialized equipment or facilities, and health hazards for trainees. This scenario is typical in nuclear energy training, where trainees are required to locate and manipulate radiation sources. Traditionally, radiation source manipulation is taught using safe radiation sources in laboratory settings, where trainees use a Geiger-Müller counter to detect and measure ionizing radiation to locate a radiation source in the least possible time to reduce radiation exposure. However, such an approach is not cost-effective and exposes trainees to radiation. This paper presents the development of a VR radiation source location scenario in which skin response and heart rate modify the flashing frequency and audio intensity of an emergency light and a siren, respectively. The main goal is to better understand how physiologically-driven audiovisual changes impact usability, cognitive load, and anxiety when locating hidden radiation sources. Our preliminary results indicate that the modification of audiovisual cues affects usability, cognitive load, anxiety, and completion time. Our findings, although preliminary, provide some important considerations for future work that are relevant for designing and developing VR experiences that could be tailored to each user.