The complexity of conceptualizing mental models has made Virtual Reality an interesting way to enhance communication and understanding between individuals working together on a project or idea. Here, the authors discuss practical applications of using VR for this purpose

Broek, Egon L. van den

Landman, Renske B.

Meijer, Frank

English

van den Broek, Egon

Meijer, F.

University of Twente Research Information

19T h e  O f f i c i a l  V o i c e  o f  t h e  I n t e r n a t i o n a l  A s s o c i a t i o n             o f  C y b e r P s y c h o l o g y ,  T r a i n i n g  &  R e h a b i l i t a t i o nAugmenting MentalModelsBy Egon L. van den Broek et al.FEATURESWith recent technological developments,Virtual Reality (VR) has become more andmore accessible for various applicationfields such as medicine, military, educa-tion, and product design. The possibilityto interactively explore virtual worlds hasbecome an important concept to sup-port education, improve training of skills,or enhance human communication. It isgenerally acknowledged that the interac-tive characteristic and vivid imagery ofVR improves the user’s subjective expe-rience, not only increasing learning per-formance but also encouraging discus-sions with other users. However, despiteall technological developments, creatingVR remains a complex and expensivebusiness. For many companies the prac-tical implications of VR outweigh thepractical benefits. Therefore, after decen-nia of VR research, the question remains:Figure 1: The application of VR to product design, using visual, auditory, and haptic modalities. Users can interactively test virtualproducts (e.g., prototypes and concepts), even in the earliest stage of the design process. Moreover, multiple distinct scenarios can beexplored using the same VR setup. The complexity of conceptualizing mental models has made Virtual Realityan interesting way to enhance communication and understanding betweenindividuals working together on a project or idea. Here, the authors discusspractical applications of using VR for this purpose.What benefits does VR provide that is arenot provided by other, less advanced tech-nologies? To understand the benefits of low-fideli-ty VR for its users (e.g., see Figure 1), wemust first understand the effect VR hason human cognition. The main effect ofVR on human cognitive processing isthree folded, as VR can augment users’:1. (multimodal) perceptual informationprocessing by presenting information via,multimodal displays; e.g., large immer-sive visual displays that surround theusers. Moreover, unlike other computer-mediated environments, VR provides theusers with auditory, haptic, tactual, oreven olfactory feedback, stimulating oth-er perceptual processes as well.2.motor processing by facilitating theusers to perform natural interactions. Notonly can users practice specific skills inVR, but also they can learn about thefunctionality of complex objects. 3.memory processing via increased per-ceptual and motor processing in VR,which facilitates the information storagein memory in a more accurate and com-plete manner than in other computer-me-diated environments. Thus, VR aids thegeneration of ideas or mental models.A mental model is a complex concept forwhich a broad range of definitions havebeen used. We define a mental model asthe (partial) mental representation of thedynamics of the external world. As such,mental models aid understanding, pro-vide explanations, and help predicting fu-ture situations; see Figure 1 and 4.In many application fields such as med-icine, VR can improve mental models.However, people have mental models ofalmost everything in their environmentranging from simple to complex items.Without aiming to present an exhaustivelist, we present three characteristics thatindicate the potentially added value ofVR in generating mental models:Team WorkWhen starting a project in which a newteam is formed, the members might havedifferent backgrounds, use their own jar-gon, and adopt their own mental models,see Figures. 2 and 3. Communicationmight be difficult and miscommunicationand misunderstanding lie in wait. Havinga shared mental model might preventthese problems  as it contains the under-standing and/or the commonality of indi-vidual mental models (at least by a partof the group). Shared mental models arecreated by shared experiences or sharedfamiliarization and/or by communicationand negotiation. VR fully supports theseprocesses and is, therefore, considered animportant means in problem-solving anddecision-making processes.Describing Abstract ConceptsVR is useful when abstract concepts areinvolved. It is easier to outline a mentalmodel of something when different chan-nels of information can be used; i.e., theprinciple of triangulation. Using solelywords to explain an abstract concept mightlead to different interpretations, as the in-terpretation of these words depends onindividuals’ mental models. Using VR canhelp avoiding these different interpreta-tions.Complex EnvironmentsAs already was denoted and is long knownin psychology, people benefit from multi-modal information as opposed to uni-modal information; see Figure 1. VR is perdefinition multimodal and, as such, is parexcellence suitable in presenting informa-tion, in particular complex information.However, multimodal presentation of in-formation has its downside. Humans arevery sensitive to asynchrone presentationof modalities. A latency of even 50 msec.can cause a disturbance with the user, pos-sibly without that the user is consciouslyaware of it. In practice, these three characteristics areoften intertwined. An example of an areawhere these characteristics often cometogether is risk management; i.e., the log-ical and systematic identification, analy-sis, treatment, and monitoring of the risksinvolved in an activity. In short, risk man-agement is providing decision support. Ingeneral, crisis management involves i)20T h e  O f f i c i a l  V o i c e  o f  t h e  I n t e r n a t i o n a l  A s s o c i a t i o n             o f  C y b e r P s y c h o l o g y ,  T r a i n i n g  &  R e h a b i l i t a t i o nFEATURES         Augmenting Mental ModelsFigure 3: Team mem-bers with differentbackgrounds and dif-ferent mental modelscan use VR to createa shared mental mod-el, which can be ben-eficial when trying tomake a decision.Figure 2: VR's vi-sualization tech-niques improvesthe users' mentalmodel of a prod-uct in develop-ment, improvingtheir understand-ing of potential de-sign problems andsolutions.teamwork as various stakeholders partici-pate; e.g., police, firemen, and healthcarepersonal; ii) abstract concepts; e.g., people’sexperience with events; and iii) complex en-vironments; a crisis takes place under high-ly dynamic, often hectic circumstances.Therefore, (government) agencies often havereal world practice drills to ensure all stake-holders are trained to handle such crisis. VRreality has already shown its use under suchcircumstances.Although mental models are a well knownconcept, the operationalization of this con-cept is weak. Consequently, although alwaysrelevant, mental models are hardly ever ap-plied explicitly in VR studies and remain anumbrella concept. Although touching uponthe essence of VR, for the time being, theconcept of mental models is bound to re-search and not applications. Par excellence,VR can be utilized to explore people’s men-tal models further as it facilitates multi-modal interaction; see Figures 1 and 4. Ex-ploration of concepts and thoughts as wellas the communication of them with otherpeople is all supported by VR technology.As such, VR is deemed to bring science asignificant step further in understandingand applying mental models in practice.Acknowledgments: The authors gratefullyacknowledge the support of the Dutch In-novation Oriented Research Program, Inte-grated Product Creation and Realization(IOP-IPCR), of the Dutch Ministry of Eco-nomic Affairs. Additionally, we thank T-Xchange (URL: http://www.txchange.nl/) forgranting us the permission to use theirgraphics (i.e., Figures 1, 2, and 4) as illustra-tion in this article.Earlier this year 11,430 healthy adults tookpart in an experiment to test whether "braintraining" using computerized games couldimprove reasoning, memory, planning, spa-tial skills and attention.  After six weeks oftraining the results showed no evidencethat this type of "brain training" resulted incognitive enhancement.  This suggests thatusing Virtual Reality (VR)  to improve thecognitive abilities of fit young adults is notlikely to be successful, however, there aremany people in society for whom this maynot be the case. People with brain injuriesor people who are experiencing age-relat-ed cognitive decline are two likely groupsof individuals who might benefit greatlyfrom using VR to enhance, or prevent thedecline of, their cognitive powers. My own interest in this area is in helpingpeople with brain injuries to reach their op-timum level of recovery. Following a braininjury there is a critical time during whichthe brain undergoes some regenerativegrowth and reorganization. Whilst this crit-ical period will differ for each individual, itis generally accepted that the greatest ratesof recovery will occur during the first yearor so after the injury has occurred. Howev-er, during these early weeks and months fol-lowing the injury, the patient is most likelyto experience high levels of fatigue, low lev-els of concentration and low levels of acti-vation. The last thing they feel like doing isengaging in cognitive rehabilitation taskssuch as trying to remember lists of words,plan a journey using a map or solve com-plex puzzles. Attention grabbing and engag-21FEATURESPut to the Test: “Brain Training”By Madeleine GrealyT h e  O f f i c i a l  V o i c e  o f  t h e  I n t e r n a t i o n a l  A s s o c i a t i o n             o f  C y b e r P s y c h o l o g y ,  T r a i n i n g  &  R e h a b i l i t a t i o nCognitive enhancers marketed in the form of “brain games” havebecome increasingly popular in recent years. But the questionremains: Do they really work?[      ]Egon L. van den Broek, Ph.D.Frank Meijer, M.A.University of TwenteRenske B. Landman, M.Sc.ErgoS Engineering and ErgonomicsThe Netherlandsvandenbroek@acm.orgfrankmeij@gmail.comr.b.landman@alumnus.utwente.nlFigure 4: Placing virtual products in a realis-tic context can further improve the users'mental model.Continued on page 24

Augmenting mental models

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

University of Twente Research Information

NARCIS