Correlation between cognitive load, vividness and cyber sickness for 360-degree education video

This study attempted to investigate cognitive load, vividness, and cybersickness in nursing students, in the last year of nursing college, who used a 360-degree video content for studying intravenous fluid infusion, one of the core fundamental nursing skills. The aim was to determine the correlation between the variables, and to decide whether the 360-degree video content can be used as an effective supplementary educational material in the regular curricula. This study, a descriptive research, was conducted from October 31, 2019 to November 14, 2019. The participants in this study were 64 students in the 4th year of nursing college at a university located in B City, South Korea. They were instructed to watch a 360-degree video content for intravenous infusion using a Samsung Head Mounted Display (HMD) while ensuring the safety of the students. The results showed that the scores, out of 7 points, for material design, self-evaluation, and physical effort for cognitive load in nursing students were 5.93±0.71, 5.92±0.71, and 5.64±0.74 points, respectively. In addition, the scores, out of 7 points, for mental effort and task difficulty were 2.55±1.08 and 1.94±0.75 points, respectively, and the scores for vividness and cybersickness in the participants were 5.82±0.84, and 2.57±0.98 points, respectively. Physical effort, self-evaluation, and material design for cognitive load in the participants were positively correlated with vividness (r=.379, r=.458, r=.507). In addition, mental effort for cognitive load was positively correlated with cybersickness (r=.684), whereas self-evaluation and material design were negatively correlated with cybersickness (r=-.388, r=-.343). Based on the results of this study, we believe that the 360-degree video content for intravenous fluid infusion can be used as an educational medium in regular and non-regular curricula. In addition, future studies are needed to specifically develop and verify teaching and learning methods on how to apply 360-degree video contents..