Virtual Reality Training for Police Officers: A Comparison of Training Responses in VR and Real-life Training 3 67 responses that are similar to those elicited in RL SBT, and (iii) derive implications of how and where VR and RL SBT can supplement each other based on the assessed measures (see section 5, ‘Concluding remarks’). Second, due to the strict training schedule, we were not able to obtain HR baseline measures. Thus, in this experiment, we did not compare the elicited HRs to the basal levels of the participants and therefore could not examine how responses in VR and RL SBT were similar to either basal levels or the heightened responses in-situ. Due to the difference in scenario length and development between RL SBT and VR SBT, the averaging of HR over the length of the scenario may also limit the concrete comparability of the obtained values. However, using a within-subject design, we were able to make general inferences regarding the differences in HR responses from VR SBT to RL SBT; particularly, as VR SBT and RL SBT took place on the same day and were counterbalanced in sequence to avoid the influence of an order effect. Nonetheless, research in the field of police training has demonstrated that RL SBT is able to elicit HRs up to 150 bpm (e.g., Baldwin et al., 2021). It is yet to be shown whether VR SBT is able to elicit comparable HR levels in order to facilitate training objectives that require extreme physiological stress reactivity experienced on-duty and during RL SBT. Future work on VR SBT in police should obtain valid and reliable baseline measures and consider assessing additional measures such as heart rate variability as an objective method of quantifying acute operational stress (Corrigan et al., 2021). In addition, future studies should, next to physical and psychological training responses, investigate behavioral responses to VR SBT. Behavioral responses may provide valuable insights into the action possibilities of police officers in VR and therefore inform police agencies for which training areas and tasks VR is suitable. CONCLUDING REMARKS VR SBT is becoming an increasingly popular topic for police agencies. In this paper, we have taken the first steps to explore how VR SBT compares and fits into existing training practices. To this end, our results revealed that VR SBT is capable of eliciting similar training responses in police officers as RL SBT does, providing initial considerations for the implementation of VR SBT to complement current RL SBT practices. For instance, when a training objective requires officers to exert high levels of physical activity (such as chasing, apprehending, and arresting a suspect), these objectives should be trained using RL SBT as it allows for more flexibility in movement and physical interaction with a role-player. To complement such training, VR can be used to broaden the scope of the objective. For example, while chasing and apprehending a suspect are important skills, police officers also have to be able to spot suspects and suspicious behavior in novel and disorganized environments. For tasks like these, VR offers valuable training opportunities (see,
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