Fidelity metrics for virtual environment simulations based on spatial memory awareness states

This paper describes a methodology based on human judgments of memory awareness states for assessing the simulation fidelity of a virtual environment (VE) in relation to its real scene counterpart. To demonstrate the distinction between task performance-based approaches and additional human evaluation of cognitive awareness states, a photorealistic VE was created. Resulting scenes displayed on a headmounted display (HMD) with or without head tracking and desktop monitor were then compared to the real-world task situation they represented, investigating spatial memory after exposure. Participants described how they completed their spatial recollections by selecting one of four choices of awareness states after retrieval in an initial test and a retention test a week after exposure to the environment. These reflected the level of visual mental imagery involved during retrieval, the familiarity of the recollection and also included guesses, even if informed. Experimental results revealed variations in the distribution of participants’ awareness states across conditions while, in certain cases, task performance failed to reveal any. Experimental conditions that incorporated head tracking were not associated with visually induced recollections. Generally, simulation of task performance does not necessarily lead to simulation of the awareness states involved when completing a memory task. The general premise of this research focuses on how tasks are achieved, rather than only on what is achieved. The extent to which judgments of human memory recall, memory awareness states, and presence in the physical and VE are similar provides a fidelity metric of the simulation in question

The Effects of Levels of Immersion on Presence and Memory in Virtual Environments: A Reality Centred Approach

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Between Real and Unreal: Investigating Presence and Task Performance. The Design of a Pilot Study.

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A User-Centered Methodology for Investigating Presence and Task Performance.

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The Effects of Levels of Immersion on Presence and Memory in Virtual Environments: A Reality Centre Approach

Simulation fidelity is characterized as the extent to which a Virtual Environment (VE) and relevant interactions with it are indistinguishable from a user’s interaction with a real environment. The growing number of VE training applications which target a high level of simulation fidelity, mainly for transfer of training in the real world, have made it crucial to examine the manner in which these particular implementations and designs are evaluated. The methodology presented in this study focuses on real versus simulated virtual worlds, comparing participants’ level of presence, task performance, and cognition state employed to complete a memory task. A 15-minute seminar was presented in four different conditions including real, 3D desktop, 3D Head Mounted Display (HMD) and Audio-only (between-subjects design). Four independent groups of 18 participants took part in the experiment, which investigated the effects of levels of immersion on participants’ memory recall and memory awareness state (relevant to episodic and semantic memory types) as well as on their perception of the experimental space and sense of presence for every condition. The level of reported presence was not positively associated with accurate memory recall in all conditions, although the scores for both presence and seminar memory recall in the “real” condition were statistically higher. Memory awareness states’ analysis gave a invaluable insight into “how” participants remembered both communicated information and space, as opposed to “what,” most interestingly across specific conditions where results for presence and accurate memory recall were not proven to be significant

A Classification for User Embodiment in Collaborative Virtual Environments

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