Transfer of training from virtual to real environments

Training is one of the most rapidly expanding areas of application of the technology of Virtual Reality (VR) with virtual training being developed in industry, commerce, the military, medical and other areas of education and in a variety of types of rehabilitation. In all cases such training rests upon the assumption that what is learned in the virtual environment transfers to the equivalent real world task. Whilst there is much anecdotal evidence there have been few systematic empirical studies and those that have been carried out do not lead to clear conclusions. This paper reports preliminary findings from a study, using a simple sensorimotor task, which seeks to establish not only the extent of transfer, but also the reliability and robustness of whatever transfers. The findings demonstrate a clear positive transfer effect from virtual to real training and suggest that the cognitive strategy elements and cognitive loads of the two types of training are broadly equivalent. However, caution is advised in the interpretation of these findings. The results are discussed in the wider context of models of transfer of training.