Comparative Experiments on Simulated Tornado Experience via Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

In Japan, a tornado is an infrequent natural disaster; however, tremendous winds can cause considerable damage. To prepare for such events, simulated tornado experience (STE) considering tremendous wind as a major hazard and incorporating evacuation plans must be provided. However, introduction of a large wind generator in STE is difficult. We developed simple VR and AR systems (VR-STE and AR-STE) that render STE by realistically simulating tornadoes and conducted comparative experiments. We set research questions that aimed to clarify how VR- and AR-STEs differ from STE, which expresses tornadoes with audiovisual effects and real, tremendous wind generated by a large wind generator. The survey variables were fear, self-efficacy, and learning motivation to cope with a tornado. The experimental results revealed that audiovisual effects can retain learners’ fear of a tornado and influence learners’ self-efficacy and learning motivation. Furthermore, VR-STE is more suitable than AR-STE in terms of controlling fear and system operation.