The More, The Better? Improving VR Firefighting Training System with Realistic Firefighter Tools as Controllers

A virtual reality (VR) controller plays a key role in supporting interactions between users and the virtual environment. This paper investigates the relationship between the user experience and VR control device modality. We developed a VR firefighting training system integrated with four control devices adapted from real firefighting tools. We iteratively improved the controllers and VR system through a pilot study with six participants and conducted a user study with 30 participants to assess two salient human factor constructs—perceived presence and cognitive load—with three device modality conditions (two standard VR controllers, four real tools, and a hybrid of one real tool and one standard VR controller). We found that having more realistic devices that simulate real tools does not necessarily guarantee a higher level of user experience, highlighting a strategic approach to the development and utilization of VR control devices. Our study gives empirical insights on establishing appropriate combinations of VR control device modality in the context of field-based VR simulation and training.

RedHerd: Offensive Cyberspace Operations as a Service

Nowadays, time, scope and cost constraints along with knowledge requirements and personnel training constitute blocking restrictions for effective Offensive Cyberspace Operations (OCO). This paper presents RedHerd, an open-source, collaborative and serverless orchestration framework that overcomes these limitations. RedHerd leverages the ‘as a Service’ paradigm in order to seamlessly deploy a ready-to-use infrastructure that can be also adopted for effective simulation and training purposes, by reliably reproducing a real-world cyberspace battlefield in which red and blue teams can challenge each other. We discuss both the design and implementation of the proposed solution, by focusing on its main functionality, as well as by highlighting how it perfectly fits the Open Systems Architecture design pattern, thanks to the adoption of both open standards and wide-spread open-source software components. The paper also presents a complete OCO simulation based on the usage of RedHerd to perform a fictitious attack and fully compromise an imaginary enterprise following the Cyber Kill Chain (CKC) phases.

The importance of identifying the dimensionality of constructs employed in simulation and training for AI

Advances at the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and education and training are occurring at an ever-increasing pace. On the education and training side, psychological and performance constructs play a central role in both theory and application. It is essential, therefore, to accurately determine the dimensionality of a construct, as it is often employed during both the assessment and development of theory, and its practical application. Traditionally, both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses have been employed to establish the dimensionality of data. Due in part to inconsistent findings, methodologists recently resurrected the bifactor approach for establishing the dimensionality of data. The bifactor model is pitted against traditional data structures, and the one with the best overall fit (according to chi-square, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), comparative fit index (CFI), Tucker–Lewis index (TLI), and standardized root mean square residual (SRMR)) is preferred. If the bifactor structure is preferred by that test, it can be further examined via a suite of emerging coefficients (e.g., omega, omega hierarchical, omega subscale, H, explained common variance, and percent uncontaminated correlations), each of which is computed from standardized factor loadings. To examine the utility of these new statistical tools in an education and training context, we analyze data where the construct of interest is trust. We chose trust as it is central, among other things, to understanding human reliance upon and utilization of AI systems. We utilized the above statistical approach and determined the two-factor structure of widely employed trust scale is better represented by one general factor. Findings like this hold substantial implications for theory development and testing, prediction as in structural equation modeling (SEM) models, as well as the utilization of scales and their role in education, training, and AI systems. We encourage other researchers to employ the statistical measures described here to critically examine the construct measures used in their work if those measures are thought to be multidimensional. Only through the appropriate utilization of constructs, defined in part by their dimensionality, are we to advance the intersection of AI and simulation and training.

Bernoulli Time Series Modelling with Application to Accommodation Tourism Demand

In this research, a new uncertainty method has been developed and applied to forecasting the hotel accommodation market. The simulation and training of Time Series data are from January 2001 to December 2018 in the Spanish case. The Log-log BeTSUF method estimated by GMM-HAC-Newey-West is considered as a contribution for measuring uncertainty vs. other prognostic models in the literature. The results of our model present better indicators of the RMSE and Ratio Theil’s for the predictive evaluation period of twelve months. Furthermore, the straightforward interpretation of the model and the high descriptive capacity of the model allow economic agents to make efficient decisions.

Tourism and Big Data: Forecasting with Hierarchical and Sequential Cluster Analysis

A new Big Data cluster method was developed to forecast the hotel accommodation market. The simulation and training of time series data are from January 2008 to December 2019 for the Spanish case. Applying the Hierarchical and Sequential Clustering Analysis method represents an improvement in forecasting modelling of the Big Data literature. The model is presented to obtain better explanatory and forecasting capacity than models used by Google data sources. Furthermore, the model allows knowledge of the tourists’ search on the internet profiles before their hotel reservation. With the information obtained, stakeholders can make decisions efficiently. The Matrix U1 Theil was used to establish a dynamic forecasting comparison.

Innovations in microsurgery training from Chile

Ignacio Cifuentes, MD, is a young plastic surgeon from Chile with high interest in microsurgical simulation and training. This paper summarizes some of the work in which the author has collaborated during his plastic surgery residency under the supervision of Bruno Dagnino, MD, as well as some interesting articles regarding microsurgical education in Chile. Francisca Leon, MD, is a microsurgeon and plastic surgeon from Chile with great interest in lower limb reconstruction who collaborated with the development of this review.