Capability of Virtual Reality for Military Stress Inoculation Training: Stress induction using heart rate considering the influence of cybersickness, interest in technology, technology anxiety and movement

Virtual reality (VR) offers new possibilities for training of military personnel; complex scenarios can be simulated where conventional training methods reach their limits. Besides that, its use in psychological skills training, such as stress control techniques as part of stress inoculation training (SIT), is conceivable. SIT requires a level of stress that renders the use of stress control techniques necessary. In this study, we examined how much stress can be induced using VR, and what impact cyber sickness, interest in technology, technology anxiety and movement influences have on stress induction. Utilizing a between- subject study design, Military Police recruits (n = 92) went through a scenario in VR (n = 33) and real-life (n = 26) while a third group (n = 33) performed typical movements from the scenario without further stressors. Results show an increase between baseline heart rate and exposure heart rate of 26.25% (M = 22.03 bpm) in VR condition, and 34.42% (M = 28.3 bpm) in the real-life condition. Subjective stress perception aligns with this pattern. Cyber sickness, interest in technology and technology anxiety had no significant influence on the results. VR is suited to induce stress but couldn't reproduce the same descriptive level of stress as in real-life. Further research on the individual modelling of stress levels, a deeper insight into subjective stress perception as well as further physiological stress measurers in context of VR-SIT is required. We discuss how to close the gap between VR and real-life, additional stressors to further increase the induced stress and considerations of practical applicability in military training.