Multisensory virtual environment for firefighter training simulation: Study of the impact of haptic feedback on task execution

The use of virtual reality in training and simulation as well as the use of haptic feedback are already used in many areas such as medicine, aviation, and training in controlled environments, such as training firefighters. The purpose of this study was the creation of a virtual multisensory environment for the simulation of a training task used in the training of firemen, with the added purpose of studying the impact of the use of haptic feedback on the feeling of presence, satisfaction and performance in the task. For this study a virtual reality experiment was designed to simulate an urban fire environment, where the participants had to train one of the methods used by firefighters in these situations, and the temperature was selected for the haptic feedback. The analysis to the obtained data show that, after doing the experiment, the performance with and without haptic feedback was approximately the same and the participants showed a low error rate. Regarding the sense of presence and satisfaction, the results demonstrate that there was an improvement in the involvement and experienced realism, as well as a low cybersickness value.