Designing Immersive Simulation Exercises: Evidence from an Experimental Study

Designing Immersive Simulation Exercises: Evidence from an Experimental Study

Abstract as pdf

Corresponding Author:

Evangelia Petridou
Risk and Crisis Research Center Sweden
evangelia.petridou@miun.se

Author(s):

Jörgen Sparf¹ , Olov Hemmingsson² and Kari Pihl³

¹Risk And Crisis Research Center, Jorgen.Sparf@Miun.Se, SWE
²Risk And Crisis Research Center, Olov.Hemmingsson@Miun.Se, SWE
³Risk And Crisis Research Center, Kari.Pihl@Miun.Se, SWE

Simulation, the running of a model with appropriate inputs for the purpose of observing the outputs (Axelrod, 1997; Bratley, Fox, and Schrage, 1987), has become a recurrent feature of research in the natural sciences, but is also used to a degree in social sciences as it can contribute to the understanding of complex social processes (Gilbert, 2004; Sawyer, 2003). Computational simulations involve modeling and computer-aided simulation techniques (Gilbert and Troitzsch, 2005), while immersive simulations may range from narrative fiction and film (Mar and Oatley, 2008), to low-technology representations of real-life situations (see for example Scott and Pandey, 2000) and high-technology immersive simulations spaces (for example, IMTEL, 2019; MIUN, 2019). In this paper, we focus on immersive simulation and more specifically, we pay special attention to experimental design as a means of understanding how different kinds of information affect risk awareness. We conducted an experiment aimed establishing a causal mechanism between making people aware of possible risks in a controlled, simulated environment, and the observed awareness they exhibited during the experiment. The study has practical implications when it comes to the design of exercises for practitioners.

References

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-03366-1_2

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IMTEL (2019). Innovative Immersive Technologies for Learning. Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Retrieved 25 February, 2019 from https://www.ntnu.edu/ipl/imtel

Mar, R., & Oatley, K. (2008). The Function of Fiction is the Abstraction and Simulation of Social Experience. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3(3), 173-192. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00073.x

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On the Epistemology of Crises and Disasters