Virtual Reality Training for Police Officers: A Comparison of Training Responses in VR and Real-life Training 3 63 Table 3.3. Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analysis Summary Predicting Perceived Stress in VR With Age, VR Knowledge, Gaming Frequency, Prior VR Experience, VR Spatial Presence, VR Engagement, and VR Negative Effects Step and predictor variable B SE B Beta sr Change in R² R² Adjusted R² Step 1 .03 .03 .00 Constant 25.26 11.78 Age .13 .23 .05 .05 VR Knowledge 4.13 2.43 .17 .15 Gaming Frequency -1.27 1.78 -.07 -.06 Prior VR Experience .74 4.00 .02 .02 Step 2 .20** .23 .17 Constant -60.99 19.73 Age .28 .21 .11 .10 VR Knowledge 2.62 2.26 .11 .09 Gaming Frequency -1.28 1.64 -.07 -.06 Prior VR Experience -.24 3.64 -.01 -.01 VR Spatial Presence -7.65 6.35 -.17 -.10 VR Engagement 16.12 5.72 .38* .22 VR Ecological Validity 10.09 5.55 .25 .14 VR Negative Effects 5.31 1.94 .23* .22 Note. sr = semipartial correlation coefficient. * p < .05. ** p < .001. DISCUSSION In the present study, we compared the training responses police officers experienced during RL SBT and VR SBT. Because police officers engage in physically and psychologically demanding tasks in the field, this should also be reflected and implemented in police training (Andersen et al., 2016; Di Nota & Huhta, 2019). Thus, we operationalized physical (i.e., average and maximum HR, activity level) and psychological (i.e., mental effort, perceived stress) responses to capture and compare the training responses of police officers to RL SBT and VR SBT. We further investigated what other factors (i.e., participant characteristics, sense of presence in VR) influence psychological responses of police officers to VR SBT. We found that police officers had higher maximum HRs and higher levels of activity in RL SBT compared to VR SBT. These may, at least partly, be explained by the training instructions, the first-time experience with VR of most officers, and the inherent characteristics of VR systems such as bulky equipment leading to movement constraints (Giessing, 2021). During VR SBT, trainees were asked not to run with the VR equipment to ensure safety. Comparatively, in the RL SBT, participants had to promptly perceive the severity of the situation (i.e., being under attack) and quickly put on their protection gear (running to put on heavy protection plate, helmet, etc.)
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