NAVIGATING LARGE-SCALE DESK-TOP VIRTUAL BUILDINGS - EFFECTS OF ORIENTATION AIDS AND FAMILIARITY

Two experiments investigated components of participants' spatial knowl edge when they navigated large-scale ''virtual buildings'' using ''des k-top'' (i.e., nonimmersive) virtual environments (VEs). Experiment 1 showed that participants could estimate directions with reasonable acc uracy when they traveled along paths that contained one or two turns ( changes of direction), but participants' estimates were significantly less accurate when the paths contained three turns. In Experiment 2 pa rticipants repeatedly navigated two more complex virtual buildings, on e with and the other without a compass. The accuracy of participants' route-finding and their direction and relative straight-line distance estimates improved with experience, but there were no significant diff erences between the two compass conditions. However, participants did develop significantly more accurate spatial knowledge as they became m ore familiar with navigating VEs in general.