Attention directors: Text overlay labels

Description

One of the benefits of VR training is that you can point things out and overlay text labels to explain what things are and to direct the user’s attention to things that are important. This helps the user understand where things are in the environment, what things are called, and where they should be looking.

Examples

Here, important objects are pointed out with annotated labels as the user moves through the training environment. This is an incredibly simple technique, but can nonetheless be incredibly effective if the the labels appear at a specific moment or if they are clearly associated with a specific object.

Here, the labels appear temporarily just to point out what each item is. They serve as a reminder to help the user, but aren’t permanently available throughout the task.

In this example the label discloses what the lever will do when operated, helping the user to marry up the physical controls they can interact with, with the actions they are trying to perform next. Notice also how the label on the lever changes to a green icon to indicate a change of state.