A partnership between the University of North Dakota’s College of Education & Human Development and UND Aerospace evaluated the efficacy of VR technologies in pilot training, comparing them to existing PC-based and high-cost flight training devices, one of the authors Ryan Guthridge, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at University of North Dakota, shared on LinkedIn.

The research paper entitled “Evaluating the Efficacy of Virtual Reality (VR) Training Devices for Pilot Training” by Ryan Guthridge and Virginia Clinton-Lisell both from University of North Dakota is published in the Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering.

The abstract states in part:

“The results show that participants who train in a VR simulator perform similarly to students who conduct training in a PC-based simulator. Both training groups performed significantly better than the control group, which conducted no training between the pre-test and post-test. Finally, survey data were evaluated to find that students who trained in VR simulators believed they performed better on the post-test than the pre-test and most felt that VR simulators could be an acceptable training technology for use in the flight training curriculum. These results will help inform flight training organizations who are considering new technology that provides a low-cost and high-value alternative to costlier, fixed-based simulators.”

Read the paper here.

Source: Ryan Guthridge, Ph.D (University of North Dakota)