Hand Gesture-Based Virtual Reality Training Simulator for Collaboration Rescue of a Railway Accident

Abstract Training simulator is an efficient and innovative tool to help users learn professional skills due to its convenience and safety. However, complex human–computer interaction is one of the main disadvantages that limit its effectiveness in safety training, especially for the rescue of a railway accident that requires collaborations. Through designing a set of task-specific hand gestures, we developed a training simulator for the recovery of a railway accident that helps the rescuers learn and practice rescue skills in a life-like environment and gain the firsthand experience. To test the validity of our training simulator, a user experiment is designed to compare it with the controller-based simulator in a between-groups study with 51 participants, focusing on different aspects of effectiveness. The results demonstrate that the hand gesture-based controller can be more efficient and usable to deal with complex interactions than the traditional hand-held controller.