Stress-Related Psycho-Physiological Activation in Emergency Simulations Using a 360° Video

Duration: March 2022 – December 2024
Status: Completed
Educational Level: Upper Secondary Level – Vocational Education
Topic: Digital Tools
Keywords: VR – Virtual Reality

Initial Situation

Educational technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) and 360° video enhance the learning experience by simulating real-world professional scenarios in classrooms. These technologies provide unique advantages, allowing students to immerse themselves in rare or dangerous situations like emergency rescues and repeat them as needed. Indeed, paramedics have the opportunity to access a simulation center only once a semester to practice a complex emergency operation. For example, they drive a car into a tree and then simulate having to extract a stuck (simulating) patient, with two teams – of paramedics and firemen – intervening and coordinating in parallel. What if we could prove that the emotional activation of the simulation seen within a head-mounted display is comparable to that of usual simulation in the real world? If this proves real, we could multiply training opportunities in situations requiring a certain emotional regulation and produce teaching materials that have high potential for working on complex, emotionally charged situations.

Objectives

The primary focus of this research project is to utilize 360° video-based virtual simulations for training and preparing students in stress management during real-world job situations, specifically as rescue trainees. In particular, the project aims to investigate whether an indirect simulation consisting of observing an immersive 360° virtual simulation produces the same stress-related psychophysiological activation as a practical simulation of a comparable emergency scenario performed in the first person.

Method

The research project includes a field study involving rescue trainees in emergency scenarios using 360° video recordings to create an interactive educational video. A multimodal approach combining self-report scales (e.g., on stress, arousal, motivation, and cognitive load), and physiological measures (salivary cortisol and heart rate) is used to comprehensively assess trainee rescuers’ stress levels during the visualization of the immersive 360° video and while performing the real emergency simulation. The main hypothesis wants to test if 360° video-based virtual simulations provoke an emotional activation similar to that provoked by direct simulation.

Results

Using a Bayesian approach, we demonstrated that the two conditions elicited comparable psychophysiological responses in terms of cortisol levels and self-reported measures of arousal and stress. Notably, both simulations are characterized by the same stress-related decreasing pattern over time: the participants exhibited higher levels of activation before the simulation, indicative of anticipatory stress, which progressively decreased, potentially reflecting well-managed emotions.

Implemented Translation

Conducted from the beginning in collaboration with the Scuola Specializzata Superiore in Cure Infermieristiche SSSCI di Lugano, the project allowed immediate translation into training. Teachers used the materials in their classes and together with researchers they presented the idea and the results of the pilot experience to the national congress of paramedics. Other teachers in the same and similar schools are now participating to further projects to develop and implement 360° VR environments in their training.

The impact for practice can be relevant, as this approach can multiply the
training occasions to expose learners to specific, complex, rare, dangerous situations that are difficult to manage, especially from an emotional point of view. As well, from a research perspective, this study paved the way to a second experimental study aiming to validate the emotional activation potential of a 360° video for stress management. This latter study was implemented with commercial professions, also showing that the approach is highly transferable to other contexts.

Participating Institutions