ct 18(14): e4

Research Article

Virtual Communication Training for the Law Enforcement Domain

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  • @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 Gerritsen1,2,*, Tibor Bosse3,4
  • 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.