13. March 2020 : New publication on spatial cognition and orientation learning in VR

König SU, Clay V, Nolte D, Duesberg L, Kuske N and König P (2019). Learning of spatial properties of a large-scale virtual city with an interactive map. doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2019.00240. Front Hum Neurosci 13:240

"To become acquainted with large-scale environments such as cities people combine direct experience and indirect sources such as maps. To ascertain which type of spatial knowledge is acquired by which source is difficult to evaluate. Using virtual reality enables the possibility to investigate whether knowledge is learned by direct experience or the use of a map differentially. Therefore, we designed a large virtual city, comprised of over 200 houses, and evaluated spatial knowledge acquisition after city exploration with an interactive map following one and three 30-min exploration sessions. Overall, our results suggest that participants learned spatial information that is directly available in the interactive map, while a spatial task that needed integration of learned knowledge stayed at lower accuracy levels."