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Increasing Realism in Tactical Combat Casualty Care Assessments Using Haptics and Integrated Technologies (1090-004334) (Developmental Research Projects: Virtual (By Invitation Only))
Start time: Tuesday, February 2, 2021, 2:00 PM End time: Tuesday, February 2, 2021, 3:00 PM Session Type: Research Study Development and Presentation Program Abstracts Cost: $0.00
Content Category: Researcher
Hypothesis:
Haptics (the interaction and transmission of information through the sense of touch) is an emerging field that is gaining significant attention in many areas of research, such as surgical robotics, virtual reality (VR), medical training, and gaming (Talhan et al., 2018). Haptic devices communicate the sense of touch to the user, and when combined with visual and audible cues from a virtual simulation, haptics provides the user with more immersive experiences than typically encountered using stand-alone virtual training simulators (Wang et al., 2019). In Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TC3) and specifically Care Under Fire (CUF), VR alone is limited in how it can provide the necessary sensory input for realistic training and performance assessment on life-saving medical procedures. The U.S. Army is interested in experimenting with haptic glove systems integrated with weapons and mannequins in VR and MR environments to increase realism during CUF performance assessments.
Methods:
The research team has designed a two-part quasi-experimental study to evaluate usability, functionality, human factors / ergonomics, realism, and impact on performance for combat medics or combat life-saving Soldiers participating in an immersive CUF assessment. In the first part, subjects will run through one condition involving a CUF assessment that increases in complexity. The VR assessment will include an integration of haptics, weapons, and a mannequin and will result in a final score. The second part of the study will involve different subjects and include additional technologies, such as MR and olfactory devices. In the effort to control for prior experience and training, subjects will complete a demographic and experience survey, including gaming experience. The research team will design surveys to collect quantitative and qualitative data from both Soldiers and instructors to determine the impact, value, benefits, and challenges with haptic-based, immersive assessments.
Anticipated Results:
The research team will compile and synthesize the data gathered from the surveys and run quantitative and qualitative analyses to determine (1) the impact of the technologies on performance in terms of realism, and (2) usability, functionality, human factors/ergonomics, and instructor impact regarding the use of the technologies in the assessment. Results from the demographic and experience survey will be correlated with individual subject performance results and survey data. As appropriate, the research team will highlight any correlations between student and instructor results. Additionally, the research team plans to compare results from both parts of the study to examine differences in Soldier and instructor experience concerning added technologies.
Co-Presenter: Dr. William Pike, US Army CCDC-SC STTC
Disclosure: No financial relationships with ineligible companies.