The sense of direction in virtual environments

Abstract

Improvements in the computer technology lead people to investigate the potential of the virtual environments. The spatial factors, that are significant for spatial navigation in real- world environments, are important also in virtual environments. Performances of people during navigation through a virtual environment may be influenced by the individual differences as well as the learning method of the layout. In this experiment, sense of direction as an important spatial ability has been investigated considering the influence of gender and learning methodology in the virtual environments (VEs). The analysis of the experiment showed that sense of direction has a positive effect on the performances of the independent viewpoint participants in misaligned questions. Apart from this, contrary to the earlier bias, no significant difference was found related to gender and sense of direction ability as well as the learning performances of the participants in the VE.