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Abstract:One aim of virtual reality technology is to immerse the user in a digital environment that is distinct from physical reality. Feeling spatially located in this digital environment is central to the experience, and is more formally known as spatial presence. Experiences of spatial presence differ between individuals; prominent theories assume that these differences may, in part, be explained by differences in more general spatial abilities.Whilst there is some support for this claim with desktop systems there is currently no direct empirical evidence to support this with more immersive technologies such as Head Mounted Displays (HMDs). In this study participants completed three different measures of spatial ability before experiencing two virtual environments. These measures included: a self-report of visuospatial imagery; the mental rotations test; and a test of topographical memory. After completing the measures, participants briefly experienced a virtual city and a virtual train ride through a HMD. The user's head movements were tracked and visual displays were updated to give the sense of a full 360 o environment. After each experience the participants reported how present they felt and the extent to which they had a mental model of the environment. Self-reports of imagery were positively correlated with reports of spatial presence, consistent with previous literature. However, spatial presence was not related to performance on either of the more objective tests. Whilst this provides confirmatory evidence that self-reports of imagery can predict presence it is still unclear which more basic spatial abilities, if any, could underlie this relationship.

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Virtual reality (VR) technology may serve as an effective non-pharmacological analgesic to aid pain management. During VR distraction, the individual is immersed in a game presented through a head-mounted display (HMD). The technological level of the HMD can vary, as can the use of different input devices and the inclusion of sound. While more technologically advanced designs may lead to more effective pain management the specific roles of individual components within such systems are not yet fully understood. Here, the role of supplementary auditory information was explored owing to its particular ecological relevance. Healthy adult participants took part in a series of cold-pressor trials submerging their hand in cold water for as long as possible. Individual pain tolerances were measured according to the time (in seconds) before the participant withdrew their hand. The concurrent use of a VR game and the inclusion of sound was varied systematically within participants. In keeping with previous literature, the use of a VR game increased pain tolerance across conditions. Highest pain tolerance was recorded when participants were simultaneously exposed to both the VR game and supplementary sound. The simultaneous inclusion of sound may therefore play an important role when designing VR to manage pain.

Accuracy of memory performance per se is an imperfect reflection of the cognitive activity (awareness states) that underlies performance in memory tasks. The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of varied visual fidelity on the transfer of training to the real-world after exposure to immersive simulations representing a real-world scene. A between groups experiment was therefore carried out to explore the effect of rendering quality on measurements of location-based recognition memory for objects and measurements of any associated states of awareness. The immersive simulation consisted of one room that was either rendered flat-shaded or using radiosity rendering. The simulation was displayed on a stereo head-tracked Head Mounted Display. After the immersive simulation, participants completed a recognition memory task in a real-world scene by physically arranging objects (in their physical form) in a real world room In addition to the recognition memory task, participants also reported one of four states of awareness following object recognition. Participants were given several options of awareness states that reflected the level of visual mental imagery involved during retrieval, the familiarity of the recollection and also included guesses. The scene also incorporated objects that 'fitted' into the specific context of the real-world scene (an academic's office), referred to as consistent objects, and objects which were not related to the specific context of the real-world scene,referred to as inconsistent objects. A follow-up study was also conducted a week after the initial test. Interestingly, results revealed a higher proportion of correct object recognition that was associated with an awareness state based on mental imagery when the immersive simulation was flat-rendered rather than radiosity rendered This supports similar results from previous studies and extends them to the transfer of training. Memory psychology indicates that awareness states based on visual imagery require stronger attentional processing in the first instance than those based on familiarity. A tentative claim would therefore be that those immersive environments that are distinctive because of their variation from 'real', such as flat-shaded environments, recruit stronger attentional resources. This additional attentional processing may bring about a change in participants' subjective experiences of 'remembering' when they later transfer the training from that environment into a real-world situation.