Experiment Navigating through virtual environments can be a frustrating experience. The spatial awareness required to both construct a mental map of the environment and wayfind from point to point can be difficult to acquire and maintain. The degree to which the interface itself influences spatial awareness is the focus of our current line of experiment.
Virtual environments strive to provide a broad range of multi-modal interactions.
Of these modalities, the kinesthetic is commonly the least involved. This decreased kinesthetic interaction may limit our spatial awareness. Of particular importance in this context is the overlay of a person's real body on their computer-generated representation. With a joystick the user remains seated facing the same direction. With the VMC, the user must rotate their real body to rotate their virtual body.