A Cross-Platform Classroom Training Simulator: Interaction Design and EvaluationA Cross-Platform Classroom Training Simulator: Interaction Design and Evaluation
Alban Delamarre, Christine Lisetti, Cédric Buche · 2020
Virtual training environments experienced with different immersive technologies can accommodate users' preferences, proficiency, and platform availability. Whereas research comparing the effects of immersive technologies can provide important insights about their impact on users' experience (e.g. engagement, transfer of learning), current studies do not address how to design the user interface (UI) to ensure sound comparisons across platforms. For effective comparisons, however, the UI designs must be adapted for the platform used to provide comparable usability. In this article we describe our UI design methodology for the development of an effective and usable virtual classroom training simulator built for three technologies: (1) desktop; (2) Head-Mounted Display (HMD); and (3) Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE). Usability and other user experience factors were evaluated for each platform with concurrent think-aloud protocol and semi-structured interviews indicating that all three UIs were easy to use and to learn. We discuss insights for future development of cross-platform VTEs.