VISUAL SIGNAL TRAINING FOR DRIVERS AND THEIR GROUND GUIDES

Abstract

Rising incidents of injuries and mortality rates among Army vehicle occupants is an increasing concern in the Army and the Department of Defense (DOD) as they attempt to improve techniques that avoid unintended harm to Soldiers and government assets. This research analyzes the connection between ground guide visual signal training by computer animations in virtual reality and the accuracy of recognition and recall of those visual signals when demonstrated again by a person. To investigate this, participants were shown combinations of computer animations and prerecorded live action videos in virtual reality, each demonstrating random ground guiding visual signals. After this training, participants were then tested first in virtual reality and then tested again in a follow-up session with an in-person demonstrator. The results indicate the use of visual signals by computer animations in virtual reality will play a significant role in facilitating the training of recognition and recall among participants. This research allows the Army and DOD to better understand computer animations when training personnel on the proper visual signals to be used by ground guides in order to mitigate injury/death.