2002 · 69 citations · 9 references
Social SciencesPsychologyMemoryVisual AttentionVisual PerceptionSpatial AwarenessSpatial CognitionSpatial PerceptionSpatial RepresentationVirtual Environment DesignVirtual Reality3D User InteractionPhysical ModelsSpatial MemoryTask Performance AnalysisTask Performance MetricsVirtual Reality InterfacesVirtual Test Environments
User interfaces can improve task performance by exploiting spatial cognition, and prior experiments have shown this, yet moving from flat 2D to 3D interfaces is assumed to further enhance performance. The study investigates the effectiveness of spatial memory in real‑world physical models and equivalent computer‑based virtual systems. The experiment compared physical and virtual models that differ in users’ freedom to use depth and perspective when arranging images representing web pages. Performance and subjective ratings both declined as users had more freedom to use the third dimension, making interfaces feel cluttered and less efficient.
User interfaces can improve task performance by exploiting the powerful human capabilities for spatial cognition. This opportunity has been demonstrated by many prior experiments. It is tempting to believe that providing greater spatial flexibility-by moving from flat 2D to 3D user interfaces-will further enhance user performance. This paper describes an experiment that investigates the effectiveness of spatial memory in real-world physical models and in equivalent computer-based virtual systems. The different models vary the user's freedom to use depth and perspective in spatial arrangements of images representing web pages. Results show that the subjects' performance deteriorated in both the physical and virtual systems as their freedom to locate items in the third dimension increased. Subjective measures reinforce the performance measures, indicating that users found interfaces with higher dimensions more 'cluttered' and less efficient
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