Virtual Communication Training for the Law Enforcement Domain

Charlotte Gerritsen; Tibor Bosse

Research Article

Virtual Communication Training for the Law Enforcement Domain

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Cite: BibTeX Plain Text

@ARTICLE{10.4108/eai.16-1-2018.153642,
    author={Charlotte Gerritsen and Tibor Bosse},
    title={Virtual Communication Training for the Law Enforcement Domain},
    journal={EAI Endorsed Transactions on Creative Technologies},
    volume={5},
    number={14},
    publisher={EAI},
    journal_a={CT},
    year={2018},
    month={1},
    keywords={serious gaming, virtual characters, communication training.},
    doi={10.4108/eai.16-1-2018.153642}
}

Charlotte Gerritsen
Tibor Bosse
Year: 2018
Virtual Communication Training for the Law Enforcement Domain
CT
EAI
DOI: 10.4108/eai.16-1-2018.153642

Charlotte Gerritsen^1,2^,*, Tibor Bosse^3,4

1: Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement
2: De Boelelaan 1077, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
3: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Computer Science
4: De Boelelaan 1081, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands

*Contact email: cgerritsen@nscr.nl

Abstract

Serious games are increasingly being used for training of social skills. The main idea is to create a virtual environment in which a trainee can interact with graphically embodied virtual characters. By designing scenarios in such way that the character’s behaviour provides direct feedback on the correctness of the trainee’s choices, an interactive learning experience is created. This paper explores the potential of this approach in the domain of law enforcement. A prototype has been developed of a serious game that enables police academy students to train their communicative skills. A pilot study with 41 students has been conducted. The results show that this is a promising instrument for education in this domain, but also point out several suggestions for improvement.

Keywords: serious gaming, virtual characters, communication training.

Received: 30th Nov 2016
Accepted: 8th Jul 2017
Published: 16th Jan 2018
Publisher: EAI

: http://dx.doi.org/10.4108/eai.16-1-2018.153642

Copyright © 2018 Charlotte Gerritsen and Tibor Bosse, licensed to EAI. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), which permits unlimited use, distribution and reproduction in any medium so long as the original work is properly cited.