A comparative study between automated and human evaluation of sensory-motor skills in Interactive 3D Virtual Environments involving application of intramuscular injection

Abstract

Abstract— The evolution of computational techniques in the field of virtual reality has enabled new ways of discussing and using information technology in educational contexts. Given this scenario, new challenges have emerged and, among them, the need to verify the efficiency of teaching techniques in interactive three-dimensional environments must be highlighted. This work aims to show the comparison between the experimental results of the evaluation of a theoretical evaluation model carried out by human experts and the results of an automated theoretical model of evaluation and sensorimotor skills acquisition in an Interactive Virtual Environment. The experiment involved procedures such as needle positioning, insertion, and withdrawal operations in injections in the gluteal region. Results indicate that the evaluation of sensory-motor skills is feasible in interactive 3-D virtual environments, showing a higher level of agreement with the human evaluation within the stage of discriminatory evaluation, followed by a relative agreement in evaluating processes of skill degrees distributed on the basis of an average point found in the experts’ evaluation and that of an automated method.