General Introduction 11 1 In current real-life training, scenario-based training is considered the gold standard for integrated (motor) skill learning (Di Nota & Huhta, 2019). During scenario-based training, police officers reenact and apply skills (such as handcuffing) in on-duty like situations. The exposure to dynamic and immersive duty-like situations allows trainees to explore behavioral strategies under the influence of stress (Di Nota & Huhta, 2019). Hence, main advantages of real-life scenario-based training is the dynamic interaction with the opposition (a suspect, bystander, etc.) and the use of skills and replica tools (e.g., pepper spray) as police officers would do during real-life incidents. In order for VR to benefit current training practices, VR needs to provide advantages in training experience, learning outcomes, or resource savings (e.g., enhanced training efficiency, etc.). Compared to current real-life training, many of the advantages of VR training outweigh the drawbacks of real-life training. For instance, while real-life scenario-based training is bound to a physical location and requires a labor-intensive set-up of props, VR training provides a virtual environment that simulates a variety of scenarios independent of location. Similarly, during reallife scenario-based training, scenarios are seldomly repeatable because the restaging of scenarios is oftentimes time-consuming. Therefore, VR might be able to provide advantages that further enhance already existing training practices. Currently, no comparison of training experiences (such as the physical or psychological responses to the training itself) of VR and real-life training exists in the literature. Additionally, literature does not yet address how features of VR can be used as a tool to enhance learning in police training. In order to make informed decisions on where and how to integrate VR into current practice, evidence regarding the effectiveness of the methods for particular training objectives and its ability to enhance learning would prove valuable. Application of VR The application of VR in police training depends on the training objective and the capabilities of VR to support the objective. Application of VR, then, refers to the delivery and use of the training technology in practice. As VR is already being used to effectively fulfill various objectives in police training (see section ‘Defining VR in the context of police’), research should investigate how the application of VR can be improved further; for instance, by examining how the drawbacks of VR can be mitigated and how the advantages of VR can be utilized to maximize the effectiveness of VR as a training tool. Current drawbacks in VR police training relate predominantly to the limited multi-sensory fidelity (Giessing, 2021). In real-life situations and training, police officers rely on vision, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. In VR, vision and hearing are the predominant senses trainees use to engage with the virtual environment. The reduced experience of senses in VR limits the exploration of an environment through the sense of smell and taste and limits the physical interaction with,
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