The use of simulators for training provides advantages over training in the field, but often at the cost of reduced realism. New ideas in interface design promise to reduce this potential disadvantage of simulation-based training while maintaining its benefits. One such design is the use of a wearable computer in which the simulator interface is embedded into a Soldier's load-bearing equipment, allowing the user's natural body movements to become inputs into the simulator environment. This type of interface may be more immersive and have advantages over traditional desktop interfaces. This research seeks to identify training benefits of this wearable interface relative to a more traditional desktop computer.

To evaluate the system, participants with no prior military experience were trained in hostage rescue procedures in a game-based simulation environment using either a wearable or desktop interface. A control group was trained in the same procedures in a live action condition. Following training, each group completed a series of missions in the live condition, with their performance video and audio recorded for scoring purposes. Participants were scored on the number of correct actions and the time to complete each mission. Results indicated that participants trained in the live condition performed better and were faster than those trained in either simulator condition. However, there were no significant differences between the simulator conditions for performance or speed. This indicates that although the wearable interface was expected to provide better training than the desktop interface, each interface provided equivalent levels of training transfer. These results underscore the importance of determining the training effectiveness of novel training methods before fielding. Although a novel training method may appear to be superior to more traditional methods, the new method should still be evaluated empirically to determine its training effectiveness.