TRANSFER OF SPATIAL INFORMATION FROM A VIRTUAL TO A REAL ENVIRONMENT IN PHYSICALLY DISABLED-CHILDREN

A group of 10 severely physically disabled children explored a to-scal e computer simulation of a real multi-storey building. Following explo ration, their knowledge of the spatial properties of the real environm ent was assessed by asking them to point to fire apparatus that was no t visible from the test site. Subjects in a control group were asked t o complete the same assessment tasks, but without the opportunity to e xplore either the real building or the computer simulation. The estima tes of the disabled children were superior to the control group indica ting good transfer of spatial knowledge. Route finding and recognition reports provided support for the pointing data in indicating good tra nsfer of spatial information.