Overcoming the lack of practice in laser safety training with Virtual Reality

With the growing use of laser technologies across diverse sectors comes an urgent demand for ensuring user safety and effective laser safety training. Traditional methods, while foundational, are predominantly theoretical, often lacking sufficient hands-on practice due to challenges such as the high cost of equipment, safety risks, and the complexity of replicating real-world scenarios. The innovative Immersive Photonics Lab (IPL), an immersive virtual reality (IVR) application developed by ALPhANOV for photonics training, offers a risk-free, interactive learning environment that enhances procedural skills and risk awareness. Nevertheless, conducting scientific evaluations involving users is essential to measure the benefits, assess the transferability to real-world contexts, and improve these tools by integrating end-user feedback into the development process. This paper presents the limitations and challenges of traditional training methods that lead to the design of such a tool, as well as preliminary studies conducted to evaluate its usability, acceptability, and the transformative potential of IVR for effective skill transfer to real-world scenarios to improve laser safety education.