Wayfinding: the effects of large displays and 3-D perception

Large displays and stereopsis have been shown to improve performance in several virtual navigation tasks. In the present research, we sought to determine whether wayfinding could benefit from these factors. Participants were tested in a virtual town. There were three viewing conditions: a desktop, a large screen, and a large screen on which the virtual environment was viewed in three dimensions (3-D) using polarized glasses. Participants explored the town and had to remember the location of several landmarks. Their memory of the layout of the town was tested by asking them to navigate from one landmark to another, taking the shortest route possible. All groups performed equally well in terms of the distance traveled to target locations. From this result, we concluded that large displays and 3-D perception do not significantly contribute to wayfinding. Thus, experimental paradigms and training programs that utilize wayfinding are as valuable when administered on standard desktops as on more sophisticated and costly equipment and do not induce simulator sickness as large displays tend to do.