Modulation of cortical activity in 2D versus 3D virtual reality environments: an EEG study

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Virtual reality (VR) offers valuable applications in education, training, and rehabilitation.
• Neural mechanisms of behavioral confounds in VR are not well understood.
• Investigating the impact of VR immersion levels on cognitive and neural processes is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the effects of fully immersive 3D stereoscopic versus less immersive 2D VR environments on brain function and behavior.
• To investigate the neural underpinnings of spatial navigation and postural stability in different VR environments.
• To explore the potential of 3D VR with electroencephalography (EEG) for performance enhancement and clinical applications.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments were conducted using electroencephalography (EEG).
• Experiment 1 focused on spatial navigation tasks comparing 3D and 2D VR.
• Experiment 2 assessed postural stability and balance in 3D versus 2D VR environments.

Main Results:

• Fully immersive 3D VR led to a higher sense of presence and improved spatial navigation success rates compared to 2D VR.
• Frontal midline theta (FM-theta) EEG power increased during route encoding in 3D VR (Experiment 1).
• 3D VR induced greater postural instability and altered EEG patterns compared to 2D VR (Experiment 2).

Conclusions:

• Fully immersive 3D VR demands greater cognitive and sensory resources for control than 2D VR.
• The findings suggest that 3D VR environments require more brain resource allocation.
• 3D VR tasks combined with EEG show potential for performance enhancement and clinical/rehabilitation settings.