Effect of Personality Traits and Stressor Inducers on Users’ Cognitive Load During Interactions with VR Environments

Abstract

In this paper, HCI-based design criteria focusing on managing the cognitive load of users during their interaction with Virtual Reality (VR) based training environments are presented. The design criteria explored in the paper help lay a foundation for the creation of Human Centric VR environments to train users in two healthcare domains. The first domain is orthopedic surgery, and the second domain is related to the Covid-19 pandemic. The HCI-based perspective presented in the paper investigates criteria such as personality traits and stress inducers and their impact on cognitive load. The paper delineates the implementation of the VR based environments and a set of attributes that guide and influence the content of the environments. Testing and assessment strategy is described and results are also included which provide insights into the impact of such HCI-based criteria on participants’ acquisition of skills and knowledge during interactions with the VR environments.