Toward Online Virtual Safety Training in the Manufacturing and Service Industries

Abstract

This paper describes the first in a series of studies aimed at understanding risk perception and decision-making in virtual environments. A test is done to determine if virtual reality training in the optimum cutting condition will allow subjects to determine the optimum ‘safe’ cutting condition on a real machine. This would imply that sound cues in the virtual environment can help operators train to correctly perceive a hazardous condition that is different from what one would predict based on psychophysics. It is believed that a better understanding of perception in virtual environments will allow better prediction of the impact on decision-making after virtual training. This can provide a clearer justification for virtual safety training, including remote and online Internet-based systems. Potential implications of these recent studies on the service industries are discussed.