Week 4 Task 9

Virtual reality has become a fast growing resource for education and training in a variety of fields. Although it is not a new approach to teaching and training, it has become increasingly popular as the cost of hardware and software for these systems has gone down. Virtual reality has been used for education purposes for almost a decade when “ during the summer of 1998, summer program students at the Coles Elementary School and the Phoenix High School in Chicago used virtual reality to supplement their traditional learning.” [1]
Military groups are one of the leading users of virtual reality training systems. Most of the virtual reality training programs that the military uses are based off of popular virtual reality games. “Cadets at the famous military academy at West Point, in New York, for instance, train with a tank simulation game called Steel Beasts, adapted from a commercial game of the same name. Similarly, the Marine Corps has modified the popular Doom, making the game's monsters into enemy soldiers.” [3] And just this year, the U.S. military commissioned the makers of the Sim City virtual reality game to come up with a virtual reality training system for the soldiers. The new training systems will allow soldiers to practice squad tactics and missions with realistic helicopters and vehicles as well as environmental effects such as disturbed foliage and weather conditions all through a virtual reality headset run through a laptop that is strapped to their backs. [2]
Another field that is using virtual reality in its training and education is in the medical profession. In the medical field, virtual reality education programs and systems have become increasingly popular. In the past, students had to exam and perform medical labs on animals or donated human bodies which only allowed them to dissect and train once. Virtual reality has allowed students and physicians to study and do dissections over and over which provides them with ample practice before ever touching a real patient. [3]
Aviation is yet another field that has taken advantage of the virtual reality world of training. Pilots are not able to practice real life situations that involve bad weather conditions or malfunctions for obvious risk reasons but with flight simulators pilots are able to do just that from the safety of a controlled environment. This type of training provides a valuable benefit because “by spending enough time using a realistic software the pilot will learn how to handle dangerous situations so if the real thing does happen they will know what to do and will respond properly to the problem. [4]
The reasons for the growth in the use of virtual reality systems for training and education purposes are many. One advantage of virtual reality is that it can “support multiple simultaneous users, each connecting to the system using standard office personal computers and broadband Internet access.” [5] Another advantage is the cost. Running practice military missions or practice flights can be costly but the cost of training through a virtual reality system is substantially less. This means that training can be done more often and as many times as needed until the person feels comfortable in whatever it is they are learning. Convenience is also an advantage of using a virtual reality training system. The military no longer needs to spend valuable resources and man hours setting up practice courses when they can just strap into the virtual reality training program and go. With progress though also come downfalls. One of the biggest downfalls to virtual reality training is virtual reality “environment does not have the same consequences as training and working in the real world.” [6] Basically, when training in the real world you have adrenaline and external factors that can influence your behavior that aren’t necessarily present or accounted for in virtual reality training. Despite this disadvantage of virtual reality training, it seems that more and more fields and areas of study are using virtual reality training programs as a vital resource in education.

[1] “ Virtual Reality In Schools: The Ultimate Educational Technology.” The Journal. 01 Feb 1999. Web. 31 July 2011. http://thejournal.com/articles/1999/02/01/virtual-reality-in-schools-the-ultimate-educational-technology.aspx.
[2] “ US military commission $57m virtual reality training sim powered by CryEngine 3.” PC Gamer News. 31 May 2011. Web. 1 August 2011. http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/05/31/us-military-commission-57m-virtual-reality-training-sim-powered-by-cryengine-3/.
[3] “ The Virtual Classroom: Virtual Reality in Training and Education.” Science Clarified. Web. 31 July 2011. http://www.scienceclarified.com/scitech/Virtual-Reality/The-Virtual-Classroom-Virtual-Reality-in-Training-and-Education.html.
[4] “ Flight Simulators - The Importance of Flight Simulation Training.” EzineArticles.com. 25 Jan 2010. Web. 1 Aug 2011. http://ezinearticles.com/?Flight-Simulators---The-Importance-of-Flight-Simulation-Training&id=3636669.
[5] “ Virtual Reality in Medicine - many evolving uses and advantages.” Articlebase. 15 Sept 2009. Web. 1 Aug 2011. http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/virtual-reality-in-medicine-many-evolving-uses-and-advantages-1234434.html.
[6] “Advantages & Disadvantages of Virtual Reality.” eHow. 31 March 2011. Web. 31 July 2011. http://www.ehow.com/info_8135619_advantages-disadvantages-virtual-reality.html.