Food Protection Trends - November/December 2020 - 456

GENERAL INTEREST PAPER

Exploring Novel Technologies to Enhance Food
Safety Training and Research Opportunities
Joseph E. B. Baldwin1* and Ellen W. Evans2
1

Perceptual Experience Laboratory, Cardiff School of Art and Design, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Western Ave., Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales CF5 2YB

2

ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Western Ave., Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales CF5 2YB

SUMMARY
In food safety research focused on consumers in the
domestic setting or on food handlers in the industry,
technologic advancements have improved the rigor of
research findings, reduced research biases, simplified data
collection methods, and enhanced the delivery of food
safety education and training. Use of online surveys can save
time over use of paper-based surveys because data entry is
eliminated and data analysis can be simplified (44). The cost,
availability, and portability of surveillance equipment has
enabled covert observational research on consumer food
safety practices in domestic environments (34, 81) and on
food handlers in industry settings (20, 36, 37).
New technologies also afford many new opportunities to
interact with target audiences. These evolving technologies
are changing the way in which computer screens are used and
could allow the food industry and researchers to create new
and stimulating experiences that benefit study areas such as
food safety behaviors, cognition, and training.
Advancements in technology have allowed food safety
researchers and user-centered design researchers to join
forces to explore novel techniques that can be utilized to
enhance food safety training and research opportunities.
The aim of this article is to explore alternative approaches
such as biometric and virtual or augmented reality
technologies that can be utilized by food safety researchers
to enhance understanding of food safety practices, increase
industry insight into food safety behaviors, and present
opportunities to optimize food safety education prospects.
This article provides an overview of several physiological
and psychological technologies that can be used in simulated
environments, with applied user testing, in product
development, and in behavioral analysis research.
OVERVIEW
The terms virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are
often misunderstood. Here, we describe the main characteristics
of and differences between these technologies in simulated task
environments and with eye tracking and biometric techniques
and consider how we can utilize these approaches to benefit food
safety research, training, and education in the future.

VR technology
VR technology is generally used to immerse users in
a computer-generated environment so that they can feel
present in virtual worlds away from the body's physical
location. Simulated environments are largely experienced
through a head-mounted display with stereoscopic binocular
technology that projects independent images onto each
eye, producing a sense of depth based on human binocular
disparity (two-eye view) (41).
The earliest known example of VR technology, the
Sensorama, was developed in the late 1950s (52). This
mechanical system provided an immersive video experience
that was used to train individuals without subjecting them
to possible hazards of particular situations (51). Significant
advancements have been made to VR technology and
head-mounted displays, such as producing the sensation of
peripheral vision and the viewer's changed orientation within
an environment (100) and the ability to navigate simulations
with stereoscopic vision and access embedded information in
the form of anchored hypermedia links (16, 17, 85).
Within VR environments, presence and immersion are
recognized as highly necessary for user satisfaction (22).
Immersion is determined by the technical provision of the
VR technology, and presence is the psychological response
to the VR environment, the feeling of "being there," obtained
through the external sensory information (5, 64, 95). For a
VR experience to feel realistic, user presence is optimized
by providing a first-person point of view, which is the way
in which humans judge sense of depth and experience being
engaged in the world (48). In video games, attempts to
improve immersive depth have included the representation of
the person playing the game from a first-person perspective.
VR application for food safety training
VR technology has been developed and used within
military, commercial, health care, and research applications
to simulate the sensations of an actual experience in an
individual undergoing real-life training (52). VR flight
simulators have been used to improve the decision making
and performance of combat pilots (29, 56), and headmounted display technology has enabled architects to

*Author for correspondence: Phone: +44 (0) 2920 5836; Fax: +44 (0) 2920 416982; Email: jbaldwin@cardiffmet.ac.uk

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Food Protection Trends November/December
Food Protection Trends - November/December 2020

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