Virtual reality as a reliable tool for monitoring filming performance

Virtual reality technology can do more than teach weapons skills to law enforcement and military personnel, a new study suggests: It can accurately record shooting performance and reliably track shooting progress. individuals over time.

In a study of 30 people with varying levels of experience handling a rifle, Ohio State University researchers found that a ballistic simulator captured data on accuracy, decision-making, and shooter reaction times – down to millimeters in distance and milliseconds in time – on a consistent basis.

In addition to confirming that the simulator – called VirTra V-100 – is a reliable research tool, the results could lead to the establishment of the first-ever standardized performance scores for virtual reality ballistics training.

“To our knowledge, we are the first team to answer the question of whether the simulator could be converted into an assessment tool and whether it is credible to use on a daily basis,” said Alex Buga, first author of study and a doctoral student in kinesiology at Ohio State.

“We figured out how to export the data and interpret it. We focused on the big three challenges of marksmanship, decision making and reaction time to measure 21 relevant variables, allowing us to put a report in the hands of a user and them say, “This is how accurate, precise, focused, and fast you are.” .'”

The study was published online June 6 in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

U.S. military leaders and law enforcement agencies have expressed interest in increasing the use of virtual reality for performance evaluation, said Buga and the study's lead author, Jeff Volek, a science professor. human rights at Ohio State. Earlier this year, an Ohio Attorney General's task force on the future of police training in Ohio recommended incorporating virtual reality technology into training protocols.

Volek is the principal investigator on a $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense aimed at improving the health of service members, veterans and the American public. As part of this initiative, the research team is studying the extent to which nutritional ketosis reduces the detrimental effects of sleep loss on the cognitive and physical performance of ROTC cadets, including their shooting ability as measured by the VirTra simulator. . Verifying the simulator results for research purposes triggered the attempt to extract and analyze its data.

“We were using it as an outcome variable for research and found that it had very good reproducibility of day-to-day performance, which is crucial for research,” Volek said. “You want a sensitive, reproducible result in your test where there is not a lot of variation in devices or equipment.”

Since the lab also focuses on the human performance of first responders, the researchers' conversations with the military and law enforcement communities convinced Buga that the data collected by the simulator could be more broadly useful.

“I created a few programs that allowed us to calculate shooting data and produce objective training metrics,” he said. “This equipment is close to what the military and police use on a daily basis, so it could be used as a screening tool across the country.”

Simulator users operate the infrared-guided M4 rifle by firing at a large screen on which different digitally generated visuals are projected – no headset required. The Ohio State rifle has been modernized to produce the same recoil as a police or military weapon.

Study participants included civilians, police and SWAT officers, as well as ROTC cadets. Each was first familiarized during a single learning session with the simulator and then performed several sets of three different tasks during each of three study sessions.

In the first task, participants shot at the same target a total of 50 times to produce measures of shooting accuracy. The decision-making assessment involved drawing twice in two seconds at designated shapes and colors on a screen displaying multiple choices of shapes and colors. In the reaction time scenario, participants pulled a series of plates from left to right as quickly as possible.

Internal consistency assessments showed that the simulator generated good to excellent test-retest agreement on all 21 measured variables.

All participants were well rested and completed the study sessions at approximately the same time of day. Self-assessments showed that participants' overall confidence in their shooting performance increased between the first and last session. They also rated the simulator as a realistic, low-stress shooting assessment tool.

The researchers noted that low stress and restful conditions were important for establishing baseline performance measures, which would then assess how injuries and other physical demands of first responder professions affect shooting performance.

“This simulator could be used to evaluate the effectiveness of specific training programs designed to improve shooting performance, or to evaluate marksmanship in response to various stressors encountered by the same law enforcement and military ” said Buga. “These new data sources have allowed us to push the boundaries of tactical research and lay the foundation for using virtual reality in sophisticated training scenarios that support national defense objectives. »

Other co-authors, all from Ohio State, included Drew Decker, Bradley Robinson, Christopher Crabtree, Justen Stoner, Lucas Arce, Xavier El-Shazly, Madison Kackley, Teryn Sapper, John Paul Anders and William Kraemer.