One key aspect for the safety and success of first responders’ operations is the compliance, during the intervention, with all the safety procedures and prescribed behaviors. Although real-world simulation exercises are considered as the best way to verify if operators are ready to handle emergency situations, they are not always a viable approach. Firefighting courses, for example, do not usually include this kind of activities, due to the numerous hazards related to deploying controlled fires for the simulation. However, traditional training approaches based on class lessons and multimedia learning material may not be particularly effective for teaching practical skills and procedural behaviors. In this work, the use of a Virtual Reality Training Simulation (VRTS) combined with passive haptic interfaces and a real-time fire simulation logic is investigated as a complement to a traditional video-based training approach used in the context of forest firefighting. The teaching of safety concepts and correct use of individual firefighting tools was selected as a use case, and a user study involving 45 trainees was carried out in the context of an existing training course. One third of the trainees attended the traditional video-based lessons of the course, whereas the remaining ones also took part to a practice training session, half of them with the devised VRTS, the others in the real world. Experimental results showed that the additional use of the devised VRTS improved the trainees’ procedural learning, as well as their motivation and perceived quality of the overall learning experience.

The use of Virtual Reality (VR) in education is getting more and more common, especially when hands-on learning experiences have to be delivered. With VR it becomes possible, e.g., to simulate dangerous or costly procedures that could hardly be implemented in real settings. However, engaging large classes in immersive laboratory activities may be difficult, since VR kits are still rather expensive for quantity purchases and may require powerful PCs as well as proper spaces to work. A possible way to deal with these issues could be to combine VR with so-called asymmetric Collaborative Learning (CL). CL is a particularly interesting pedagogical approach, as it make learners work in team to achieve a common educational goal, promoting critical thinking and active learning. In asymmetric CL, in particular, learners use different technologies to interact. When combined with VR, asymmetric CL could be used, e.g., to let some learners get immersed in a virtual environment, while some others actively participate in the experience using a desktop interface. This configuration could allow, in principle, to involve more learners in the same amount of time and with the same number of VR kits, while also letting them benefit of the advantages of CL. Based on these considerations, this paper investigates the impact of CL on VR-based education by leveraging an immersive virtual environment designed to support a laboratory experience in a Chemistry course. A user study was conducted by involving 46 university students enrolled in the course. Objective and subjective metrics were used to compare two education methods, i.e. one in which the students experienced the VR environment in isolation, another one in which pairs of students collaborated with an asymmetric approach. Students’ knowledge acquisition was assessed by means of theoretical quizzes, whereas practical performance was automatically measured during the VR experience. The experimental results showed that trading off VR-based, individual learning for CL may have positive effects on the acquisition of theoretical knowledge, but may be detrimental to the achievement of practical abilities if sufficient exposure to technology cannot be guaranteed.

Intervention by First Responders (FRs) is essential in disaster response, and their preparation greatly benefits from continuous updates. However, the design of effective training experiences targeted to FRs can be very demanding from the viewpoint of a Training Provisioner (TP). Virtual Reality (VR) may have a key role to play in enhancing and facilitating this task. In fact, VR technology has already proven to be very helpful in the field of emergency training, as well as its use as a powerful design and mock-up tool in many other contexts. In this work, the application of VR as a mock-up tool supporting TPs in the arrangement and validation of a training experience, either real or virtual, is explored. In particular, a case study is considered concerning the training of an FR for hydro-geological risks. Within this context, the proposed approach is compared against dramaturgy prototyping, a method commonly used for the design of experiential courses. Results indicate that the adoption of a VR-based mock-up tool (VRMT) can provide TPs with good insights on the arrangement of the training and precious indications on how to actually map this information onto real-world exercises.

Energy efficiency requirements in Europe are set by the Energy Efficiency Directive, considering energy audits as a systematic procedure to determine the savings in energy costs. These kinds of tools provide useful information for companies to identify opportunities for the improvement of their energy performance. However, the regulation is only applied for non-SMEs in Europe, which make up only 0.2% of the total number of European companies. Compared in terms of the value added or the number of employees, these companies are still at a lower percentage than small and medium enterprises. The wide versatility of small companies, however, makes it difficult to determine a regulation that promotes the objective of the Directive in a uniform way. For this reason, one aspect that is being worked on with small companies is raising awareness and training in energy aspects, encouraging them to carry out activities to improve their energy performance based on their own initiative. In this regard, within the framework of an H2020 research project based on the automotive sector, the E2DRIVER project, a collaborative–cooperative training methodology has been designed to motivate and empower the key actors within a company. This paper describes the methodology and its implementation in different companies in European countries, providing some representative results.

In recent years, First Responders (FRs) have faced increasing challenges in their operations, highlighting a growing need for specialized and comprehensive training. In particular, the firefighting Incident Commanders (ICs) are playing a pivotal role, providing directions to field operators and making critical decisions in emergency situations. Over time, traditional training tools in this field have evolved, reaching their pinnacle with Augmented Sand Tables (ASTs). ASTs build on Spatial Augmented Reality (SAR), a form of eXtended Reality (XR) that utilizes projections. Although ASTs enable large-scale visualization of the morphological features of the terrain, by relying solely on SAR it is not possible to fully leverage the potential of XR, which is increasingly recognized as a powerful tool for training. This work introduces a novel approach to training ICs by integrating ASTs with XR, incorporating a learning-by-doing methodology alongside an objective measurement of trainees' performance. To this end, an XR Training System (XRTS) has been developed, combining the capabilities of an AST with personal Mixed Reality (MR) devices and integrating a physically accurate, interactive fire simulator. This system was deployed within a forest firefighting IC training course. All the system components were designed based on the theoretical foundations of decision-making to effectively develop the necessary skills. The proposed approach was compared with traditional AST-based training methods for these roles, focusing on the analysis of learning outcomes, user experience, usability, and cognitive load. The study demonstrated several advantages associated with the use of the XRTS, including improvements in training effectiveness and a notable reduction in overall cognitive load.