背景:现代战争行动不稳定,高度复杂的环境,放置巨大的生理,心理,以及对战士的认知要求。为了最大限度地提高认知表现和战士的韧性和战备能力,训练必须解决心理压力,以提高性能。面对逆境的复原力从根本上植根于个体的心理生理应激反应,并通过降低对创伤暴露负面影响的易感性来优化。当前项目旨在优化作战人员的专业知识,弹性,适应性,利用经过验证的FullDiveVirtualReality(FDVR)培训平台提供高保真,安全,和可扩展性,在最先进的高度逼真的模拟训练场景中控制压力暴露,沉浸式技术可用。
方法:在机构审查委员会批准和同意后,2位操作员配备了具有手和眼睛跟踪功能的高保真虚拟现实耳机,全身触觉反馈套装,360°全向跑步机,美国食品和药物管理局(FDA)批准了生物识别监视器。在适应环境之后,操作员被安置在工业火灾场景中,并被指示以消防员和护理人员的身份做出反应,寻找并挽救任何伤亡人员,扑灭大火,并安全地渗出。在初始适应之后和每次演示之后(n=2),3次半结构化访谈询问运营商他们对FDVR的看法和经验,专注于可用性,可行性,和安全。使用CaretakerMedicalVitalStream连续记录生物特征数据。
结果:概念验证(POC)测试证明FDVR训练平台是可用的,安全,并且可行。它创造了一个具有生理反应的沉浸式环境,以模仿现实的大规模伤亡事件(MCE)。使用案例研究方法,使用主题分析对转录本数据进行分析。出现了三个主要主题:感官缺陷减少了现实主义,但是感官反馈提高了保真度,前庭不和谐影响了虚拟现实体验,但只有当适应后系统对操作者的运动没有自然反应时,操作员进行了移动调整,以增强可用性,特别是精细的运动。生物识别数据分析将来自VitalStream单元的时间戳与操作员对压力诱发事件的响应(即,爆炸,火灾,和死者)。两位操作员都表现出明显的生理反应,包括心率升高,收缩压,和平均动脉压,特别是在爆炸之后,遇到火,在训练环境中遇到死者。
结论:FDVR训练平台克服了面对面模拟训练的障碍,并提供了最接近现实生活的体验。它将允许战士在沉浸式环境中与他们的团队一起训练,这些环境复制了他们期望履行职责的条件。POC表明,生理反应可以映射到情景事件,以允许跟踪应激反应,认知负荷,以及性能,和战士的决策。POC只涉及2个操作员,但证明了该平台是安全有效的。未来的测试计划在10至12人的作战团队中包括200名战士,以进一步验证FDVR平台的训练有效性。
BACKGROUND: Modern warfare operations are volatile, highly complex environments, placing immense physiological, psychological, and cognitive demands on the warfighter. To maximize cognitive performance and warfighter resilience and readiness, training must address psychological stress to enhance performance. Resilience in the face of adversity is fundamentally rooted in an individual\'s psychophysiological stress response and optimized through decreased susceptibility to the negative impact of trauma exposure. The current project aims to optimize warfighter expertise, resilience, adaptability, and performance by utilizing a validated Full Dive Virtual Reality (FDVR) training platform to provide high-fidelity, safe, and scalable, controlled stress exposure in highly realistic simulated training scenarios with the most advanced, immersive technology available.
METHODS: Following Institutional Review Board approval and consent, 2 operators were fitted with high-fidelity virtual reality headsets with hand and eye tracking, full-body haptic feedback suits, a 360° omnidirectional treadmill, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared biometric monitors. Following acclimation, operators were placed in an industrial fire scenario and instructed to respond as a firefighter and paramedic, to search for and resuscitate any casualties, extinguish the fire, and exfiltrate safely. Following initial acclimation and after each demonstration (n = 2), 3 semistructured interviews asked operators their perceptions and experiences related to FDVR, focusing on usability, feasibility, and safety. Biometric data were continuously recorded using the Caretaker Medical VitalStream.
RESULTS: Proof-of-concept (POC) testing proved that the FDVR training platform is usable, safe, and feasible. It creates an immersive environment with physiological responses to mimic realistic Mass Casualty Events (MCEs). Using a case study approach, transcript data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Three major themes emerged: Sensory deficits reduced realism, but sensory feedback improved fidelity, vestibular discord affected the virtual reality experience but only when the system did not respond naturally to operator movement after acclimation, and movement accommodations were made by operators to enhance usability, especially for fine motor movements. Biometric data analysis correlated timestamps from the VitalStream unit with operator responses to stress-inducing events (i.e., explosions, fires, and a deceased victim). Both operators exhibited significant physiological responses, including elevated heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and mean arterial pressure, particularly following explosions, encountering fire, and encountering the deceased victim within the training environment.
CONCLUSIONS: The FDVR training platform overcomes the obstacles of in-person simulation training and provides the closest to real-life experience available. It will allow warfighters to train with their teams in immersive environments that replicate the conditions in which they are expected to perform their duties. The POC demonstrated that physiological responses can be mapped to scenario events to allow tracking of stress responses, cognitive load, as well as performance, and decision-making of the warfighter. The POC only involved 2 operators, but served to prove that the platform was safe and effective. Future testing plans to include 200 warfighters in operational teams of 10 to 12 to further validate the training effectiveness of the FDVR platform.