Effects of travel technique on cognition in virtual environments

Abstract

We compared four different methods of travel in an immersive virtual environment and their effect on cognition using a between-subjects experimental design. The task was to answer a set of questions based on Crook's condensation of Bloom's taxonomy to assess the participants' cognition of a virtual room with respect to knowledge, understanding and application, and higher mental processes. Participants were also asked to draw a sketch map of the testing virtual environment and the objects within it. Users' sense of presence was measured using the Steed-Usoh-Slater presence questionnaire. Our results suggest that for applications where problem solving and interpretation of material is important, or where opportunity to train is minimal, then having a large tracked space so that the participant can physically walk around the virtual environment provides benefits over common virtual travel techniques.