Chapter 4 78 The VR training scenario depicted a three-story building, shown in Figure 4.2. The first floor displayed the entrance of a bank, the second floor contained multiple small offices and work areas, and the third floor depicted a residential apartment. The scenario entailed nonplayer characters (NPCs) that were placed throughout the virtual environment in the form of bystanders, injured bystanders, bank tellers, and perpetrators. All encounters of participants were with NPCs. To make the encounters with the perpetrators as dynamic and interactive as possible, the voice of the perpetrator was taken over by an instructor. All other NPCs that participants interacted with in the scenario were steered by experienced VR instructors of the Stadtpolizei Zürich. The participants started the scenario on a large square outside of the building. The square replicated a well-known location in Zurich (Paradeplatz) and was filled with police cars with flashing blue lights and car sirens. The participants received the dispatch information that two armed perpetrators entered the bank. The participants then entered the bank in which bystanders and bank tellers were hectically running around. The bank tellers told the participants that the perpetrators had moved to a higher floor. To avoid stairs in the virtual environment, the participants were told that the stairs were blocked and had to use the elevator to enter the offices on the second floor. Exiting the elevator, the participants found injured bystanders who alerted the officers to an armed perpetrator on the floor. The participants’ task was to secure the floor and stop the perpetrator from hurting further bystanders. When participants arrested or eliminated the perpetrator, they received the dispatch information that the second perpetrator entered the apartment on the third floor. Once participants entered the apartment through the elevator, they were tasked with identifying the perpetrator. The perpetrator was taking the resident of the apartment hostage on the balcony. The task of the participants was to verbally de-escalate the situation and arrest the perpetrator without causing harm to the hostage.
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