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Virtual Reality and its potential for evaluating warning compliance
Author(s) -
Duarte Emília,
Rebelo Francisco,
Wogalter Michael S.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
human factors and ergonomics in manufacturing and service industries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.408
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1520-6564
pISSN - 1090-8471
DOI - 10.1002/hfm.20242
Subject(s) - virtual reality , compliance (psychology) , risk analysis (engineering) , limiting , harm , warning system , computer science , quality (philosophy) , key (lock) , computer security , human–computer interaction , engineering , psychology , business , social psychology , mechanical engineering , telecommunications , philosophy , epistemology
Behavioral compliance is usually considered the best measure of warning effectiveness. Researching behavioral effects is difficult to carry out, however, due to concerns for safety, ethics, and high costs. Researchers cannot expose participants to real hazards while conducting a research. A realistic scenario that appears risky but that actually has no risk is expensive to conduct in terms of money, time, and effort. This article reflects on the potential of Virtual Reality (VR) as a technique to investigate warning effectiveness, particularly behavioral compliance. VR may help to overcome several key constraints that have limited warning compliance research, such as hazards actually being manipulated. This article focuses on two information‐processing stages that will most likely benefit from VR: attention and behavior. Increasingly realistic VR can provide high‐quality Virtual Environments (VEs) for use in warnings research. VEs can provide ecological validity and experimental control while limiting actual physical harm. Advantages and limitations are reviewed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.