Chapter 3 68 for instance, Harris et al., 2021 for use of VR in police room searching procedures). It allows for the adjustment and variation of virtual environments and the use of multiple NPCs (including groups usually not easily integrated in training such as children) and role-players that can take on various avatars making them less identifiable as suspects (as is oftentimes a problem with RL SBT due to the protective equipment worn by suspect role-players). Based on our findings, VR SBT may even be tailored to specific trainee characteristics to be more effective. For instance, trainees with technology affinity can start VR SBT rather quickly whereas first-time users with little technology experience may need additional VR tutorials and more training time to get used to VR. To ensure that VR SBT elicits psychological responses that are similar to RL SBT, factors such as the occurrence of negative effects and the engagement in VR should be considered and addressed beforehand. For instance, to minimize the risk of cybersickness in VR, particularly for first-time users, the structure of the VR SBT should be adjusted so that the initial exposure duration is brief and becomes gradually and incrementally longer to aid adaptation to VR (da Silva Marinho et al., 2022). Additionally, in setting up a VR training, instructors should ensure sufficient break time (for instance, for performance feedback) before re-immersion into the next VR scenario. To increase engagement with and sense of presence in VR, the training scenarios should take place in an interactive narrative-based virtual environment (Pengnate et al., 2020). For example, when designing training scenarios for VR, police trainers should, just as for RL SBT, develop scenario scripts that specify the task the trainees should perform, include realistic soundscapes (e.g., police car sirens), and interactive features such as role-players and NPCs. Further systematic investigation of how the practical recommendations provided in this section impact physical, psychological, and behavioral training responses is critical for the effective implementation of VR SBT in police training practices. Investigating and validating how practical recommendations such as the structure, delivery, and scenario design of VR SBT influence training responses (e.g., HR, physical activity, perceived stress, mental effort, behavior) and the VR experience (i.e., sense of presence, occurrence of cybersickness) provides police agencies with clear guidelines on how they can effectively implement and apply VR SBT into current training curricula. Taken together, we foresee that with continuous technological developments and further systematic investigation, VR SBT will play an important role in enhancing current police training practices.
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