Exploring Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) criteria in the design and assessment of Next Generation VR based education and training environments

This paper discusses the approach and outcomes of adopting design and assessment criteria based on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) principles. A general framework is presented which has been adapted to support teaching and training in two domains: first to teach science and engineering concepts to students with autism and second to support the training of first responders involved in the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed framework emphasizes the importance of HCI principles such as affordance, visual density, and cognitive load during the design process. The training environments were created using various interfaces and immersion levels; these included haptic based interfaces and fully immersive 3D environments. Assessment activities were conducted to gain a better understanding of the impact of such a cyber-human framework. The preliminary results of the assessment activities demonstrated the positive impact of such cyberlearning techniques and environments for both the domains.