Exploring the Impact of Vibrotactile Feedback on Boom Lift Safety Training: A Study Design

In this paper, we present our research plan to investigate how various locations of vibrotactile feedback influence user experience and risk perception within a virtual reality (VR) based safety training simulation. We describe our planned user study where the study participants experience a construction boom lift ride (or operation) in an immersive VR environment. During the virtual lift ride, participants perform stage-maintenance tasks, such as assembling light bulbs and electrical lines, which involve certain safety risks—for example, hitting electrical lines and structures during the lift operation. In the study, the vibrotactile feedback condition is varied in three levels: (1) No-Vibration, (2) Controller-Vibration, and (3) Floor-Vibration. We plan to collect and analyze both subjective and objective data related to general user experience, sense of presence, and risk perception to examine the effectiveness of the safety training. Further details of our study and the boom lift ride simulation are described, and future plans are discussed.