Design of a Virtual Reality Interactive Training System for Public Health Emergency Preparedness for Major Emerging Infectious Diseases: Theory and Framework (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND Sufficient emergency preparedness is the key factor to respond effectively and recover from major emergent infectious diseases (MEID). However, in the face of MEID, public emergency preparedness is insufficient, so it is urgent to improve public emergency preparedness. The rapid development of virtual reality and human-computer interaction provides unprecedented opportunities for innovative education methods. OBJECTIVE To design a virtual reality interactive training system (VRITS) to improve public emergency preparedness under MEID, so that the public can respond effectively and recover from MEID. METHODS This study takes the interactive narrative theory, situated learning theory and human-computer interaction theory as the theoretical framework to guide the design of software. Using literature research method and Delphi method, consulting and interviewing multi-disciplinary experts such as pedagogy, medicine, psychology, public health and computer to determine the educational content framework and operating system framework of the VRITS. RESULTS The VRITS is named the People’s War Against Epidemic. The educational content framework includes 21 knowledge, emotion and behavior skills in six aspects, such as cooperating with prevention and control work, improving basic equipment, ensuring personal safety, preparing economic resources, managing self-emotion, and improving emergency response ability. The operating system framework includes virtual interactive training module, knowledge corner module, intelligent evaluation module and community forum module, and the core module is a virtual interactive training module. In this module, users control the virtual characters to move in various scenes in the community, and then identify and analyze the controllability and harmfulness of the evolving epidemic and selects the correct prevention and control strategy to avoid infection by themselves and others. CONCLUSIONS The People’s War Against Epidemic creates a realistic learning situation for the trainers, enhances the immersion and experience of the trainers, enriches the theoretical system and education resource database of emergency preparedness training under the MEID, and improves the effectiveness, fairness, accessibility and participation of education.