No Pain, No Gain? The Effects of Adding a Pain Stimulus in Virtual Training for Police Officers 4 77 Virtual reality training (VR) The VR system used in this experiment was provided by Refense (www.refense.com). Participants were equipped with the Refense VR suit consisting of a binocular head-mounted display, microphone and audio provided via over-ear headphones, radio chatter, hand- and foot sensors for motion tracking, a computing box (backpack style; weighing 5 kg), and a replica rifle. The size of the VR training area was 15 × 15 m. Figure 4.1 shows the VR equipment used in this study. The training group of eight participants was split into two smaller groups of four participants to train the VR scenarios in small units. On average, the completion of the VR scenario took 13 min. Before the training scenario began, participants underwent calibration of the VR sensors and equipment and completed a short instructional tutorial in VR. The instructional tutorial contained a replication of a specific training location of the Stadtpolizei Zürich that the participants are familiar with from their regular real-life training practices. When entering this environment in VR, participants are guided through specific tasks (e.g. walking a certain distance, opening and closing doors, interacting with others, and using their replica rifles on target boards) by the instructor. The familiarisation process took, on average, 5 min. After completing the tutorial, participants had a brief break (∼30–45 s) to prepare for calibration of the actual training scenarios. Figure 4.1. Refense VR equipment. Note: The VR equipment was provided by Refense.
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