The cognitive implications of virtual locomotion with a restricted field of view

Abstract

A study was conducted to examine the impact, in terms of cognitive demands, of a restricted field of view (FOV) on semi-natural locomotion in virtual reality (VR). Participants were divided into two groups: high-FOV and low-FOV. They were asked to perform basic movements using a locomotion interface while simultaneously performing one of two memory tasks (spatial or verbal) or no memory task. The memory tasks were intended to simulate the competing demands when a user has primary tasks to perform while using an unnatural interface to move through the virtual world. Results show that participants remembered fewer spatial or verbal items when performing locomotion movements with a low FOV than with a high FOV. This equivalent verbal and spatial detriment may indicate that locomotion movements with a restricted FOV require additional general cognitive resources as opposed to spatial or verbal resource pools. This also emphasizes the importance of this research, as users of a system may allow primary task performance to suffer when performing locomotion. Movement start and completion times were also measured to examine resource requirements of specific aspects of movements. Understanding specific performance problems resulting from concurrent tasks can inform the design of systems. Copyright 2012 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic electronic or print reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are prohibited. ABSTRACTA study was conducted to examine the impact, in terms of cognitive demands, of a restricted field of view (FOV) on semi-natural locomotion in virtual reality (VR). Participants were divided into two groups: high-FOV and low-FOV. They were asked to perform basic movements using a locomotion interface while simultaneously performing one of two memory tasks (spatial or verbal) or no memory task. The memory tasks were intended to simulate the competing demands when a user has primary tasks to perform while using an unnatural interface to move through the virtual world. Results show that participants remembered fewer spatial or verbal items when performing locomotion movements with a low FOV than with a high FOV. This equivalent verbal and spatial detriment may indicate that locomotion movements with a restricted FOV require additional general cognitive resources as opposed to spatial or verbal resource pools. This also emphasizes the importance of this research, as users of a system may allow primary task performance to suffer when performing locomotion. Movement start and completion times were also measured to examine resource requirements of specific aspects of movements.Understanding specific performance problems resulting from concurrent tasks can inform the design of systems.

Is the user trained? Assessing performance and cognitive resource demands in the Virtusphere

“…In other words, perhaps performance in the later training rounds had already reached the ceiling given these considerations. This conclusion is somewhat supported by the results of Marsh, Kelly, Dark, and Oliver [12], who showed competition for general resources due to a restricted FOV, although one would expect a much smaller performance impact than what is seen in the later rounds. Some readers may notice that the memory sequences were also presented using a different HMD in the second session.…”