Dataset Information

Transfer of complex skill learning from virtual to real rowing.

ABSTRACT: Simulators are commonly used to train complex tasks. In particular, simulators are applied to train dangerous tasks, to save costs, and to investigate the impact of different factors on task performance. However, in most cases, the transfer of simulator training to the real task has not been investigated. Without a proof for successful skill transfer, simulators might not be helpful at all or even counter-productive for learning the real task. In this paper, the skill transfer of complex technical aspects trained on a scull rowing simulator to sculling on water was investigated. We assume if a simulator provides high fidelity rendering of the interactions with the environment even without augmented feedback, training on such a realistic simulator would allow similar skill gains as training in the real environment. These learned skills were expected to transfer to the real environment. Two groups of four recreational rowers participated. One group trained on water, the other group trained on a simulator. Within two weeks, both groups performed four training sessions with the same licensed rowing trainer. The development in performance was assessed by quantitative biomechanical performance measures and by a qualitative video evaluation of an independent, blinded trainer. In general, both groups could improve their performance on water. The used biomechanical measures seem to allow only a limited insight into the rowers' development, while the independent trainer could also rate the rowers' overall impression. The simulator quality and naturalism was confirmed by the participants in a questionnaire. In conclusion, realistic simulator training fostered skill gains to a similar extent as training in the real environment and enabled skill transfer to the real environment. In combination with augmented feedback, simulator training can be further exploited to foster motor learning even to a higher extent, which is subject to future work.

SUBMITTER: Rauter G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3869668 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Transfer of complex skill learning from virtual to real rowing.

Rauter Georg G Sigrist Roland R Koch Claudio C Crivelli Francesco F van Raai Mark M Riener Robert R Wolf Peter P

PloS one 20131220 12

Simulators are commonly used to train complex tasks. In particular, simulators are applied to train dangerous tasks, to save costs, and to investigate the impact of different factors on task performance. However, in most cases, the transfer of simulator training to the real task has not been investigated. Without a proof for successful skill transfer, simulators might not be helpful at all or even counter-productive for learning the real task. In this paper, the skill transfer of complex technic ...[more]

PMID: 24376518

Similar Datasets

Project description:BACKGROUND:Virtual reality viewed using a head-mounted display (HMD-VR) has the potential to be a useful tool for motor learning and rehabilitation. However, when developing tools for these purposes, it is important to design applications that will effectively transfer to the real world. Therefore, it is essential to understand whether motor skills transfer between HMD-VR and conventional screen-based environments and what factors predict transfer. METHODS:We randomized 70 healthy participants into two groups. Both groups trained on a well-established measure of motor skill acquisition, the Sequential Visual Isometric Pinch Task (SVIPT), either in HMD-VR or in a conventional environment (i.e., computer screen). We then tested whether the motor skills transferred from HMD-VR to the computer screen, and vice versa. After the completion of the experiment, participants responded to questions relating to their presence in their respective training environment, age, gender, video game use, and previous HMD-VR experience. Using multivariate and univariate linear regression, we then examined whether any personal factors from the questionnaires predicted individual differences in motor skill transfer between environments. RESULTS:Our results suggest that motor skill acquisition of this task occurs at the same rate in both HMD-VR and conventional screen environments. However, the motor skills acquired in HMD-VR did not transfer to the screen environment. While this decrease in motor skill performance when moving to the screen environment was not significantly predicted by self-reported factors, there were trends for correlations with presence and previous HMD-VR experience. Conversely, motor skills acquired in a conventional screen environment not only transferred but improved in HMD-VR, and this increase in motor skill performance could be predicted by self-reported factors of presence, gender, age and video game use. CONCLUSIONS:These findings suggest that personal factors may predict who is likely to have better transfer of motor skill to and from HMD-VR. Future work should examine whether these and other predictors (i.e., additional personal factors such as immersive tendencies and task-specific factors such as fidelity or feedback) also apply to motor skill transfer from HMD-VR to more dynamic physical environments.

Project description:Although robot-assisted training is present in various fields such as sports engineering and rehabilitation, provision of training strategies that optimally support individual motor learning remains as a challenge. Literature has shown that guidance strategies are useful for beginners, while skilled trainees should benefit from challenging conditions. The Challenge Point Theory also supports this in a way that learning is dependent on the available information, which serves as a challenge to the learner. So, learning can be fostered when the optimal amount of information is given according to the trainee's skill. Even though the framework explains the importance of difficulty modulation, there are no practical guidelines for complex dynamic tasks on how to match the difficulty to the trainee's skill progress. Therefore, the goal of this study was to determine the impact on learning of a complex motor task by a modulated task difficulty scheme during the training sessions, without distorting the nature of task. In this 3-day protocol study, we compared two groups of naïve participants for learning a sweep rowing task in a highly sophisticated rowing simulator. During trainings, groups received concurrent visual feedback displaying the requested oar movement. Control group performed the task under constant difficulty in the training sessions. Experimental group's task difficulty was modulated by changing the virtual water density that generated different heaviness of the simulated water-oar interaction, which yielded practice variability. Learning was assessed in terms of spatial and velocity magnitude errors and the variability for these metrics. Results of final day tests revealed that both groups reduced their error and variability for the chosen metrics. Notably, in addition to the provision of a very well established visual feedback and knowledge of results, experimental group's variable training protocol with modulated difficulty showed a potential to be advantageous for the spatial consistency and velocity accuracy. The outcomes of training and test runs indicate that we could successfully alter the performance of the trainees by changing the density value of the virtual water. Therefore, a follow-up study is necessary to investigate how to match different density values to the skill and performance improvement of the participants.

Dataset Information

Transfer of complex skill learning from virtual to real rowing.

Publications

Transfer of complex skill learning from virtual to real rowing.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets