Virtual reality has become a new and fast growing technology for gamers all over world. While playing virtual games all the time might seem like a waste of time a new study proves the opposite. In a recent study by The University of Cologne, University of Liechtenstein, and Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences; gamers who completed a virtual reality (VR) game more quickly than their peers exhibited greater levels of the general intellect and cognitive power. The findings also suggest that virtual reality games can be valuable additional tools for human resource management in businesses to forecast the work performance of a candidate. Markus Weinmann of the University of Cologne and his colleagues’ study, “Intelligence at play: game-based assessment using a virtual-reality application,” was released in the journal Virtual Reality. Earlier several studies have already shown that video games may indicate or even help to develop intellectual and cognitive abilities. As intelligence is one of the most commonly used predictors for job performance, video games could be interesting for human resource management. Although many companies are increasingly using VR technology to recruit candidates, only a few studies have specifically investigated whether VR games can be used to draw conclusions about intelligence in this area. The study by Markus Weinmann and his colleagues contributes to bridging the gap between research and practice. Weinmann and his fellow scientists invited 103 participants to their lab. Under controlled laboratory conditions, they played the commercial VR game “Job Simulator” and the intelligence test BIS-4.
