  Virtual environments (VEs) offer potential benefits to health and safety
training: exposure to dangerous (virtual) environments; the opportunity for
experiential learning; and a high level of control over the training, in that
aspects can be repeated or reviewed based on the trainee's performance.
However, VEs are typically presented as audiovisual (AV) systems, whereas
engagement of other senses could increase the immersion in the virtual
experience. Moreover, other senses play a key role in certain health and safety
contexts, for example the feel of heat and smell in a fire or smell in a fuel
leak. A multisensory (MS) VE was developed, which provided simulated heat and
smell in accordance with events in a virtual world. As users approached a
virtual fire, they felt heat from three 2 kW heaters and smelled smoke from a
scent diffuser. Behaviours in the MS VE demonstrated higher validity than those
in a comparable AV VE, which ratings and verbatim responses indicated was down
to a greater belief that participants were in a real fire. However, a study of
the effectiveness of the MS VE as a training tool demonstrated that it did not
offer benefits over AV as measured by a written knowledge test and subjective
ratings of engagement, attitude towards health and safety and desire to repeat.
However, the study found further evidence for the use of AV VEs in health and
safety training, particularly as the subjective ratings were generally better
than for PowerPoint based training. Despite the lack of evidence for MS
simulation on traditional measures of training, the different attitudes and
experiences of users suggest that it may have value as a system for changing
trainees' attitudes towards their personal safety and awareness. This view was
supported by feedback from industrial partners.
