Estimating distance in real and virtual environments: Does order make a difference?

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Virtual Reality Studies

Background:

• Accurate distance estimation is crucial for navigation and interaction in both real and virtual environments.
• Previous research has explored factors influencing spatial perception, but the impact of sequential environmental experiences is less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how the order of experiencing real versus virtual environments affects human distance estimation.
• To determine if memory plays a role in modulating spatial perception across different environmental modalities.

Main Methods:

• Participants provided distance estimates in real and virtual environments under various sequential conditions (e.g., real-then-virtual, virtual-then-real).
• Experiment 1 involved imagined walking times for distance estimation.
• Experiment 2 combined blindfolded walking in a real environment with imagined walking in a virtual environment.

Main Results:

• Initial distance estimates were significantly more accurate in the real environment compared to the virtual environment.
• When environments were repeated (real-real, virtual-virtual), accuracy remained higher for real environments.
• When environments were alternated (real-virtual, virtual-real), the accuracy difference between environments diminished for the second estimate.

Conclusions:

• The sequence of exposure to real and virtual environments influences distance perception.
• Memory representations of real-world distances appear to impact subsequent virtual environment estimations.
• These findings highlight the role of memory in mediating spatial perception across physical and simulated realities.