9
experience felt that they would need significantly less sup-
port and prerequisites to use the system [1], suggesting that
exposure and training could address some of the barriers.
Familiarity and support are also some of the reasons
that the development team has chosen to use commer-
cially available hardware. In the second quarter of 2024,
Meta had 74% of the global immersive hardware market
share [54], greatly increasing the likelihood that potential
trainees and trainers have had exposure to the hardware.
The large user base also provides a large support commu-
nity which can be helpful in addressing maintenance and
support concerns. Lastly, using commercial hardware has
the greatest likelihood of reducing the overall system cost
as opposed to a specialized system that is only used in a
small market. Regardless of the change management strate-
gies employed, effective planning and a realistic, achievable
timeline is critical to successful implementation of an inno-
vation [52].
To address the barrier of content creation, NIOSH
researchers continue to make software improvements.
Specifically, researchers have added a new Scenario Editor
module. This functionality will allow users to create new
scenarios quickly and easily with a drag-and-drop interface.
Additionally, researchers have added the ability to add cus-
tom environments and objects. This greatly expands the
range of training scenarios that VR-MRT can cover. Lastly,
researchers are working to include other commodity-spe-
cific items (e.g., underground metal mining, surface). The
Scenario Editor module has been piloted with great success,
where university staff have been able to make their own
content for classroom activities.
Outer Setting: Why now?
As shown in Table 5, interview participants discussed all the
Outer Setting constructs except for External Pressure. They
identified relevant points that can be both facilitators and
barriers to the implementation of VR-MRT.
Related to the Policies and Laws construct, interview-
ees focused on compliance. They suggested that VR-MRT
could be adapted to include general mine safety and
health content for both new miner and annual refresher
trainings required by law (30 C.F.R. Part 48/46). Many
also expressed interest in incorporating a virtual mine res-
cue contest option to satisfy the 30 C.F.R. Part 49 con-
test requirement. This aligns with the 36% of mine rescue
team members that also said they would be interested in
using VR-MRT instead of traditional mine rescue train-
ing (Figure 1). Since these interviews, NIOSH has success-
fully hosted a VR mine rescue contest, fully incorporating
all the features needed to create and score scenario-based
problems. At this event, the possibility of VR-MRT serving
as a substitute for at least one traditional contest was raised
by the participating teams, citing added benefits and greater
applicability. As a first step towards adoption, NIOSH
plans to work with mine rescue contest hosts to incorporate
VR-MRT as an additional competitive event. Researchers
are also exploring the development of automatic, objective
scoring for mine rescue problems. Both could enhance the
likelihood that VR-MRT contests can be seen as a suitable,
and in some ways, preferable alternative to traditional mine
rescue contests.
NIOSH researchers have strong industry and aca-
demic partnerships and connections as exemplified by the
pre-implementation efforts described above. However,
interview participants discussed the need for more formal
relationships and access to the technology. One participant
talked about not knowing who to call or how to get the
help they need to implement VR-MRT. NIOSH plans to
combat this barrier by helping to establish and maintain
VR working groups and connecting stakeholders.
Speaking about the Local Conditions construct, par-
ticipants also identified barriers related to politics as well as
software and hardware availability and accessibility. Politics
often play a large role in federal programs and initiatives
because priorities can change as administrations change.
Several interviewees mentioned that the changing of politi-
cal priorities could affect uptake either positively or nega-
tively. Interviewees also talked about barriers such as the
technology’s accessibility for all mineworkers (e.g., literacy,
physical limitations) and the overall availability of the plat-
form. Researchers are working to address these concerns
through the development of training scenes that could be
included with the software. Researchers are also reviewing
the software to ensure it follows good design practices such
as making the interactions simple (e.g., only two buttons),
consistent (e.g., green for “grab”) and clear (e.g., visual
and audio confirmation for all actions). As for availabil-
ity, following the evaluation effort, NIOSH plans to make
VR-MRT freely available on their website. Ultimately, the
goal is for stakeholders to be able to incorporate VR-MRT
into their own training curriculum.
Finally, participants discussed how Critical Incidents
like the COVID-19 pandemic served as both a facilitator
and barrier to implementation efforts. Participants dis-
cussed how the pandemic made remote options for train-
ing more salient and acceptable, but they also noted the
two-year delay in the demonstration of VR-MRT at the
International Mine Rescue Contest. Since this data was col-
lected in 2022 COVID-19 was still top of mind, but future
serious external events could similarly impact the mining
experience felt that they would need significantly less sup-
port and prerequisites to use the system [1], suggesting that
exposure and training could address some of the barriers.
Familiarity and support are also some of the reasons
that the development team has chosen to use commer-
cially available hardware. In the second quarter of 2024,
Meta had 74% of the global immersive hardware market
share [54], greatly increasing the likelihood that potential
trainees and trainers have had exposure to the hardware.
The large user base also provides a large support commu-
nity which can be helpful in addressing maintenance and
support concerns. Lastly, using commercial hardware has
the greatest likelihood of reducing the overall system cost
as opposed to a specialized system that is only used in a
small market. Regardless of the change management strate-
gies employed, effective planning and a realistic, achievable
timeline is critical to successful implementation of an inno-
vation [52].
To address the barrier of content creation, NIOSH
researchers continue to make software improvements.
Specifically, researchers have added a new Scenario Editor
module. This functionality will allow users to create new
scenarios quickly and easily with a drag-and-drop interface.
Additionally, researchers have added the ability to add cus-
tom environments and objects. This greatly expands the
range of training scenarios that VR-MRT can cover. Lastly,
researchers are working to include other commodity-spe-
cific items (e.g., underground metal mining, surface). The
Scenario Editor module has been piloted with great success,
where university staff have been able to make their own
content for classroom activities.
Outer Setting: Why now?
As shown in Table 5, interview participants discussed all the
Outer Setting constructs except for External Pressure. They
identified relevant points that can be both facilitators and
barriers to the implementation of VR-MRT.
Related to the Policies and Laws construct, interview-
ees focused on compliance. They suggested that VR-MRT
could be adapted to include general mine safety and
health content for both new miner and annual refresher
trainings required by law (30 C.F.R. Part 48/46). Many
also expressed interest in incorporating a virtual mine res-
cue contest option to satisfy the 30 C.F.R. Part 49 con-
test requirement. This aligns with the 36% of mine rescue
team members that also said they would be interested in
using VR-MRT instead of traditional mine rescue train-
ing (Figure 1). Since these interviews, NIOSH has success-
fully hosted a VR mine rescue contest, fully incorporating
all the features needed to create and score scenario-based
problems. At this event, the possibility of VR-MRT serving
as a substitute for at least one traditional contest was raised
by the participating teams, citing added benefits and greater
applicability. As a first step towards adoption, NIOSH
plans to work with mine rescue contest hosts to incorporate
VR-MRT as an additional competitive event. Researchers
are also exploring the development of automatic, objective
scoring for mine rescue problems. Both could enhance the
likelihood that VR-MRT contests can be seen as a suitable,
and in some ways, preferable alternative to traditional mine
rescue contests.
NIOSH researchers have strong industry and aca-
demic partnerships and connections as exemplified by the
pre-implementation efforts described above. However,
interview participants discussed the need for more formal
relationships and access to the technology. One participant
talked about not knowing who to call or how to get the
help they need to implement VR-MRT. NIOSH plans to
combat this barrier by helping to establish and maintain
VR working groups and connecting stakeholders.
Speaking about the Local Conditions construct, par-
ticipants also identified barriers related to politics as well as
software and hardware availability and accessibility. Politics
often play a large role in federal programs and initiatives
because priorities can change as administrations change.
Several interviewees mentioned that the changing of politi-
cal priorities could affect uptake either positively or nega-
tively. Interviewees also talked about barriers such as the
technology’s accessibility for all mineworkers (e.g., literacy,
physical limitations) and the overall availability of the plat-
form. Researchers are working to address these concerns
through the development of training scenes that could be
included with the software. Researchers are also reviewing
the software to ensure it follows good design practices such
as making the interactions simple (e.g., only two buttons),
consistent (e.g., green for “grab”) and clear (e.g., visual
and audio confirmation for all actions). As for availabil-
ity, following the evaluation effort, NIOSH plans to make
VR-MRT freely available on their website. Ultimately, the
goal is for stakeholders to be able to incorporate VR-MRT
into their own training curriculum.
Finally, participants discussed how Critical Incidents
like the COVID-19 pandemic served as both a facilitator
and barrier to implementation efforts. Participants dis-
cussed how the pandemic made remote options for train-
ing more salient and acceptable, but they also noted the
two-year delay in the demonstration of VR-MRT at the
International Mine Rescue Contest. Since this data was col-
lected in 2022 COVID-19 was still top of mind, but future
serious external events could similarly impact the mining