Enhancing Virtual Reality Training through Artificial Intelligence: a Case Study

Companies face the pressing challenge of bridging the skills gap caused by relentless technological progress and high worker turnover rates, necessitating continuous investment in up-skilling and re-skilling initiatives. Virtual reality is already used in training programs. However, despite its advantages, the authoring time for creating and customizing virtual environments often makes using this technology not completely convenient. The paper proposes an architecture that aims to facilitate the integration of artificial intelligence assistance into virtual reality training environments to improve user engagement and reduce authoring effort. The proposed architecture was tested in a study that compared a virtual training session with and without a digital assistant powered by artificial intelligence. Results indicate comparable levels of usability and perceived workload between the two conditions, with higher performance satisfaction in the assisted condition.