A Neuroeducational Approach in the Integration of Virtual Reality Technologies in the Development of Serious Games: Case Study in the Field of Occupational Safety and Risk Prevention

Accidents can generate significant social and economic losses with severe, harsh, and sometimes even irreparable consequences for individuals and companies. Each year the number of accidents with lost time injuries is increase. The leading causes of unsafe behaviors and, often, the resulting accidents at work are the lack of adequate knowledge and low-risk awareness. Safety signals are tools used to inform about a hazard when it cannot be eliminated. Still, even when they are present, they are often not visualized at the time of an accident. Another point to consider is the risk prevention courses which introduce individuals to existing hazards and the behavior to adopt when faced with them. However, these courses are deemed monotonous and ineffective by their audience. Technological evolution is making possible a series of improvements in the approach of these courses, which also do not imply too high economic cost. This paper approaches the use of new methodologies and technological advances as a tool to improve human behavior in risky situations. It presents a cocreation process to develop digital technologies solution for training using virtual reality and gamification to promote the correct behavior of the user in a critical condition. As main contributions, firstly, it should be noted that an immersive virtual environment has been developed to improve user behavior in a risk situation and evaluate the impacts that novel elements in signaling can have on human behavior. Also, this paper provides valorous insights for these which work with safety training.