Interest is growing around Virtual Reality training systems (VRTSs), which started to be considered as a credible option to train companies’ workforce. Although the efficacy of VRTSs as a fancy alternative to traditional learning material used by trainers in their lectures has already been proved, their effectiveness as self-learning tools not requiring human instructors is still controversial, since experiments carried out within established training programmes are still rare. This paper reports the results of a user study aimed to investigate how an immersive VRTS designed to train industrial robot operators on light maintenance tasks actually compares to the training practice based on in-class and hands-on sessions that is adopted worldwide by an international company. After the training, study participants were evaluated by company's instructor while performing the taught task autonomously on a real robot. Obtained results showed that the effectiveness of the devised VRTS in making the trainees able to successfully complete the task was comparable to that of the traditional training. It was also found that there is still room for improvement, e.g., on virtually training interaction with physical tools and equipment, as well as on emulating and fortifying aspects of human trainer-trainee social dynamics.

人们对虚拟现实培训系统（VRTS）的兴趣与日俱增，该系统开始被认为是培训公司员工的可靠选择。尽管已经证明了VRTS可以替代讲师在讲课中使用的传统学习材料的效果，但是VRTS作为不需要人工指导的自学工具的有效性仍存在争议，因为在既定培训计划中进行的实验仍然很少。本文报告了一项用户研究的结果，该研究旨在调查旨在培训工业机器人操作员进行轻维护任务的沉浸式VRTS与国际公司在全球范围内采用的基于课堂和动手实践的培训实践之间的实际比较。 。培训结束后，研究参与者由公司进行了评估。讲师，同时在真实的机器人上自主执行讲授的任务。获得的结果表明，所设计的VRTS在使学员能够成功完成任务方面的有效性可与传统培训相媲美。还发现，仍有改进的空间，例如，在与物理工具和设备的虚拟培训交互上，以及在模拟和强化人类培训师—受训者社会动力的各个方面。