In-game documents: Examining document experiences in narrative spaces

This research proposal focuses on individuals' experiences with documents in a 3D virtual environment. Using a qualitative approach, I propose investigating players' interactions with in-game objects to better understand the relationship between information behavior and narrative spaces. Specifically, I will observe player actions in a story-rich virtual world followed by semi-structured interviews using virtual artifacts and stimulated recall. I will then conduct an interpretive phenomenological analysis of the interview transcripts. By better understanding how individuals experience information in a virtual story that affords agency, I may provide a new framework for investigating in-game actions or document experiences. Practical implications of this research may inform game designers of when to employ unguided information-seeking tasks or, instead, allow narrative and direct feedback to drive player behavior

The Effects of Video Game Experience and Family Environment on Spatial Memory Development

How children navigate their world, and what environmental cues they use to build a map of their environment has been extensively studied behaviorally. But, with advances in technology, experimental designs have shifted from real environments to virtual environments. This generates an experimental experience that mimics everyday navigation but is easier to control for any confounding variables. To this extent, it has sparked the question of how video game experience influences individual differences in spatial map formation. The present study addresses how video game exposure impacts spatial memory across 6- 12-year-olds and adults. Indices of spatial memory were determined by behavioral measures taken from an object location task (path efficiency, distance error, angular error). Video game experience was collected through a questionnaire that generated scores for active gameplay, virtual layout exposure, and passive watching. An additional factor considered was the effect of family structure on video game experience. This included the amount of family disposable income, parental educational level, and perceived family dynamic. Participants showed a developmental increase in spatial memory accuracy across the age range tested, and participants with greater video game experience demonstrated better spatial memory. However, this was significantly mediated by an interaction with age, whereby only children showed a link between video game experience and spatial memory. While parental education was a significant predictor of video game experience, parental education and perceived family function were not. Additionally, all three measures were non-significant predictors of task performance directly. This study shows that while video game experience is a significant predictor of object location task performance in children, whether social familial factors if any, mediate this relationship are yet to be fully understood.Neuroscienc

Investigating The Effects Of Simulation On Transfer In A High Risk Confrontational Setting

Individuals, who work in high risk confrontational (HRC) settings in which a conflict exists, experience high-stress levels in their jobs and are known to have a high level of decreased performance and decreased survival. Individuals being trained to handle such conflicts should be trained effectively to accomplish the ultimate objective, staying alive. The problem is the lack of research and program evaluations examining effectiveness of training simulations in the transfer of skills under HRC settings. The purpose of my study was to test if the skill of target acquisition could be effectively transferred to a real environment (RE) after exposure within a virtual environment (VE). Ackerman\u27s (1988) Theory of Ability Determinants of Skill Acquisition supports the progression participants advance through in the transfer of learning. A randomized posttest only comparison group design was used. The population involved 24 novice paintball players. Participants were randomly assigned to a simulation treatment or a non-simulation comparison application. Two days after receiving the intervention, participants engaged in live practice sessions (game 1 and game 2) in a RE where target acquisition skills were measured. Evidence suggests significant differences were found between novice players in the type of intervention received and the number of targets acquired in a RE, whereas, no significant change in scores was found between practice sessions, and no interaction was found between intervention received and practice. Recommendations for replicating studies include: (a) focusing on the manipulation of specific variables within the training context, (b) using different live environments, (c) examining factors that influence teaming and strategy formation, and (d) combining experts and novice players for a closer representation of a population in an HRC setting

Exploring vertical navigation within a virtual environment : a staircase experience

Ankara : The Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University, 2012.Thesis (Ph. D.) -- Bilkent University, 2012.Includes biblioraphical references 104-121.Architectural cues are configured by architects in the initial phase of design process. Local architectural cues within an environment can aid individuals during navigation and influence their spatial orientation. Staircases, as a feature of local architectural cues that provide access to the other floors in a multi-level building can have an impact on vertical navigation. This study focuses on the issue of vertical navigation during virtual navigation by integrating the individual characteristics and the geometric attributes of a staircase pair within two different multi-level desktop virtual environments (VEs). The angle between the cue pairs with respect to the same observation point is altered in order to determine the staircase pair that is more efficient in navigation. Circulation paths, gender differences, navigational abilities and cue pairs are considered to be factors that affect staircase preferences for ascending and descending. For the VE with a 180° difference between the cue pairs, there was a relationship between the ascending and descending staircases. Further analysis indicated that the staircase preference in ascending was either related to the first or last visited rooms on the ground floor. For the VE with a 90° difference between the cue pairs, no relationship was found between the ascending and descending staircases as well as with any other factor. There was no significant relationship between gender and staircase preference except for the descending staircase with 180° difference between the cue pairs and was in favor of females. In addition, there was no significant relationship between the navigational abilities and staircase preferences.Memikoğlu, İpek (Sancaktar)Ph.D

Neural basis of route-planning and goal-coding during flexible navigation

Animals and humans are remarkable in their ability to flexibly adapt to changes in their surroundings. Navigational flexibility may take many forms and in this thesis we investigate its neural and behavioral underpinnings using a variety of methods and tasks tailored to each specific research aim. These methods include functional resonance magnetic imaging (fMRI), freely moving virtual reality, desktop virtual reality, large-scale online testing, and computational modelling. First, we reanalysed previously collected rodent data in the lab to better under- stand behavioural bias that may occur during goal-directed navigation tasks. Based on finding some biases we designed a new approach of simulating results on maze configurations prior to data collection to select the ideal mazes for our task. In a parallel line of methods development, we designed a freely moving navigation task using large-scale wireless virtual reality in a 10x10 space. We compared human behaviour to that of a select number of reinforcement learning agents to investigate the feasibility of computational modelling approaches to freely moving behaviour. Second, we further developed our new approach of simulating results on maze configuration to design a novel spatial navigation task used in a parallel experiment in both rats and humans. We report the human findings using desktop virtual reality and fMRI. We identified a network of regions including hippocampal, caudate nu- cleus, and lateral orbitofrontal cortex involvement in learning hidden goal locations. We also identified a positive correlation between Euclidean goal distance and brain activity in the caudate nucleus during ongoing navigation. Third, we developed a large online testing paradigm to investigate the role of home environment on wayfinding ability. We extended previous reports that street network complexity is beneficial in improving wayfinding ability as measured using a previously reported virtual navigation game, Sea Hero Quest, as well as in a novel virtual navigation game, City Hero Quest. We also report results of a navigational strategies questionnaire that highlights differences of growing up inside and outside cities in the United States and how this relates to wayfinding ability. Fourth, we investigate route planning in a group of expert navigators, licensed London taxi drivers. We designed a novel mental route planning task, probing 120 different routes throughout the extensive street network of London. We find hip- pocampal and retrosplenial involvement in route planning. We also identify the frontopolar cortex as one of several brain regions parametrically modulated by plan- ning demand. Lastly, I summarize the findings from these studies and how they all come to provide different insights into our remarkable ability to flexibly adapt to naviga- tional challenges in our environment

Neural and behavioral correlates of flexible navigation in complex space

This thesis focused on a primary aim: investigate behavioral and neural correlates of flexible spatial navigation using a variety of methods. To do so, we combined immersive virtual reality, real-world navigation, and neuroimaging to better understand the nuances in flexible behavior. Across all five studies discussed in this thesis, we utilized Sea Hero Quest as a baseline measure of spatial ability and prospective predictor for both behavioral and neural measures. Importantly, the work presented in this thesis aimed for novelty in methods. First, this thesis presents the first fMRI results from a dynamic navigation task with a continuously moving goal position – to our knowledge. Second, we found no evidence for a relationship between performance in Sea Hero Quest and either real-world wayfinding / spatial memory measures or related neural measures (hippocampal volume ratio) – in contrast to some recent findings. Last, a new task design looking at spatial performance in an urban version of Sea Hero Quest highlighted the importance of realism in task design. Overall, the work presented in this thesis adds to an understanding of flexible navigation and, importantly, highlights areas in which the field might advance

The Influence of Intrinsic Perceptual Cues on Navigation and Route Selection in Virtual Environments

The principle aims of this thesis were to investigate the influence of intrinsic navigational cues in virtual environments and video games. Modern video games offer complex environments that may reflect real world spaces or represent landscapes from fantasy and fiction. The coherent design of these spaces can promote natural navigational flow without the requirement for extraneous guidance such as maps and arrows. The methods that designers use to create natural flow are complex and stratified utilising principles rooted in urban architectural design and navigational cues that are intrinsic to real-world wayfinding scenarios. The studies presented in this thesis analysed not only these commonly used architectural cues but also the potential for the reinforcing of these cues by the addition of lighting, visual and auditory cues. The primary focus of this thesis was a systematic and quantitatively rooted analysis of the impact lighting has on navigation and the levels at which variance in lighting makes a quantifiable difference to navigational choices within a virtual environment. The findings of this thesis offer clear guidance as to the influence that lighting has within virtual environments and specifies that thresholds at which the inclusion of guidance lighting begins to affect navigational choices and the levels that players become conscious of these cues. The thesis also analyses the temporal thresholds for the detection of changes in contrast, hue and texture within an environment. The relationship of other intrinsic cues such as the potential reinforcement or cue competition effects of both audio and other visual cues, for instance motion are quantitatively analysed. These data were reflected in the form of a series of heuristic design principles that augment those that underpin architectural and environmental design considerations by for instance suggesting levels of saliency for lighting cues or reinforcing existing cues via supporting audio guidance