Navigating buildings in "desk-top" virtual environments: Experimental investigations using extended navigational experience.

TLDR

The study trained participants on large‑scale building layouts using nonimmersive desktop virtual environments, replicating a real‑building experiment and testing the influence of localized landmarks. Participants achieved near‑perfect routefinding and accurate directional judgments comparable to real buildings; familiar object landmarks improved accuracy, while colored patterns had no effect. Virtual environment (VE) systems are being developed.

Abstract

Participants learned the layout of large-scale buildings through extended navigational experience, using desk-top (i.e., nonimmersive) virtual environments (VEs). Experiment 1 recreated a study performed in a real building (P. W. Thorndyke & B. Hayes-Roth, 1982). After overcoming initial disorientation, participants ultimately developed near-perfect routefinding abilities. Their ability to judge directions and relative distances was similar to that found with the real building. Two further experiments investigated the effect of localized landmarks. Colored patterns had no effect on participants' route-finding accuracy. However, participants were more accurate in their route finding when familiar objects were used as landmarks than when no landmarks were used. The implications of the findings for the design of VEs are discussed. Virtual environment (VE) systems are being