Virtual spaces and real world places: transfer of route knowledge
✍ Scribed by Bob G. Witmer; John H. Bailey; Bruce W. Knerr; Kimberly C. Parsons
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1996
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 434 KB
- Volume
- 45
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1071-5819
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
It has been widely suggested , but rarely demonstrated , that virtual environments (VEs) are ef fective training media . The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate how well a VE model of a complex of fice building trained individuals to navigate in the actual building . Sixty participants studied route directions and landmark photographs , then rehearsed the route using either the VE model , the actual building , or verbal directions and photographs . The VE model was presented in real time via a head-tracked display . Half of the participants in each rehearsal group also studied route maps . Everyone's route knowledge was then measured in the actual building . Building configuration knowledge was also measured . VE rehearsal produced more route knowledge than verbal rehearsal , but less than with rehearsal in the actual building . Type of rehearsal had no ef fect on configuration knowledge . Map study influenced neither route nor configuration knowledge . These results suggest that VEs that adequately represent real world complexity can be ef fective training media for learning complex routes in buildings , and should be considered whenever the real world site is unavailable for training .