Active Navigation in Virtual Environments Benefits Spatial Memory in Older Adults

Abstract

We investigated age differences in memory for spatial routes that were either actively or passively encoded. A series of virtual environments were created and presented to 20 younger (Mean age = 19.71) and 20 older (Mean age = 74.55) adults, through a cardboard viewer. During encoding, participants explored routes presented within city, park, and mall virtual environments, and were later asked to re-trace their travelled routes. Critically, participants encoded half the virtual environments by passively viewing a guided tour along a pre-selected route, and half through active exploration with volitional control of their movements by using a button press on the viewer. During retrieval, participants were placed in the same starting location and asked to retrace the previously traveled route. We calculated the percentage overlap in the paths travelled at encoding and retrieval, as an indicator of spatial memory accuracy, and examined various measures indexing individual differences in their cognitive approach and visuo-spatial processing abilities. Results showed that active navigation, compared to passive viewing during encoding, resulted in a higher accuracy in spatial memory, with the magnitude of this memory enhancement being significantly larger in older than in younger adults. Regression analyses showed that age and score on the Hooper Visual Organizational test predicted spatial memory accuracy, following the passive and active encoding of routes. The model predicting accuracy following active encoding additionally included the distance of stops from an intersection as a significant predictor, illuminating a cognitive approach that specifically contributes to memory benefits in following active navigation. Results suggest that age-related deficits in spatial memory can be reduced by active encoding.

Virtual Reality Aids Game Navigation: Evidence from the Hypertext Lostness Measure

“…[65][66][67] Retention was also higher for spatial knowledge in the VR condition than in the non-VR/desktop condition. This reaffirms the view that VR has a positive effect on spatial memory [50][51][52] and vindicates its use in disciplines that rely heavily on spatial knowledge. 1,2 Moreover, the combination of higher spatial knowledge retention and higher navigational efficiency found in VR compared with the non-VR/ desktop condition mirrors hypertext findings that spatial ability is a predictor of navigational performance.…”

“…39 There is general agreement on VR's contribution to visual (spatial) information processing. [50][51][52] However, there is disagreement on VR's contribution to learning. 27,51,[53][54][55] This can at least partly be explained by two factors: (a) most research compared VR with traditional educational methods rather than comparing the same game presented in VR with a non-VR/desktop environment 56 and (b) the vast majority of studies did not make use of fully immersive VR by using either low-end headsets or primitive controls or both.…”

Virtual Enactment Effect on Memory in Young and Aged Populations: A Systematic Review

“…The use of these controllers is linked to the type of immersion; indeed, the vast majority of the experiments’ apparatus were non-immersive (PC screen or projectors). Only six experiments [57,58,61,73,79,80] used head-mounted display (HMD) to assess the role of active navigation on spatial performances and only one study used immersive virtual reality to assess the effect of full body involvement during encoding on episodic retrieval.…”

“…Passive navigation in the studies included in the review consisted of a yoked condition or pre-recorded navigations. Navigational decision-making, or free exploration, is another crucial aspect of active navigation and spatial knowledge [84]; however, in 17 experiments [9,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,70,71,72,77,78,79], researchers gave a predetermined route or instructions to follow. Moreover, decision-making is a crucial aspect of the virtual enactment effect when older participants are involved in active navigation [8] due to overload on the frontal lobes and the executive functions capacity on memory encoding [68], which are known to decline with aging [85].…”

“…Reviews, meeting abstracts, notes, case reports, letters to the editor, research protocols, patents, editorials and other editorial materials were also excluded. Five studies [57,58,59,60,61] did not appear during our search but were in line with our inclusion criteria; therefore, they were added to the included studies.…”