Role of Adaptation Phase in Educational Results of Virtual Reality Communication Training for Managers

Adaptation to new devices and interfaces is actively studied by user experience and human-computer interaction specialists but is typically neglected by organizers and researchers of corporate training with virtual reality. The study tests how the adaptation phase to technology affects the educational outcome and cognitive load. For the study, 102 people (35.3 ± 11.2 years old), including students and working managers, were trained to give feedback to a colleague. They were divided into three groups: general adaptation, specialized adaptation for communication training, and no adaptation. EEG was used to measure cognitive load score. As a result, it was found that both groups with pre-adaptation showed higher educational outcomes and experienced less cognitive load during the main training. No difference was found between the types of adaptation.