VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS AS A PROMISING TOOL FOR INVESTIGATING HUMAN SPATIAL COGNITION

Research on human spatial cognition is usually based on static measure s of spatial behavior. In addition, while it is difficult to control a ll environmental parameters in real settings, laboratory simulations ( such as slide or film projections) are often unrealistic. Thus, the us e of Virtual Environments (VEs) has Some promise as an experimental to ol for studying human spatial cognition. It is possible to make contin uous measurements during navigation, and to design environments of var ying complexity. Moreover, real-time interactivity (and head-tracking) in three-dimensional (3D) spaces can give the feeling of actual immer sion. However, several drawbacks appear in studies about spatial cogni tion in VEs. Although devices with 3D sound and tactile feedback are a vailable, VEs are mainly designed around the visual modality and do no t account for interactions among the sensorimotor systems. Other drawb acks (lack of details, slow image rendering, narrow visual field, opti cal distortions, etc.) may lead to misperceptions, disorientation, or even sickness. Accordingly, careful selection and extensive training o f participants is necessary. Nevertheless, although VEs differ from re al environments, their use is less artificial than some classical meth ods of investigation, and can be complementary. Developers should impr ove hardware and software in collaboration with experts in spatial beh avior. Some important questions relating to the analysis of human beha vior in real and virtual environments are discussed here.