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THE INFLUENCE OF PRIOR INTERACTION WITH AN IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT ON USER’S DISTANCE ESTIMATES

Richardson, Adam
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1161020618

Abstract Details

2006, Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, Psychology.
This dissertation describes a series of experiments designed to determine observer’s ability to make use of information about the effects of their own actions in an immersive VE to improve the accuracy of their judgments of absolute egocentric distance. Observers viewed targets in both real and virtual environments and gave their estimates of distance by means of blindfolded walking tasks, where observers either walked directly to or indirectly toward those previously viewed targets. They were then permitted to interact with the modeled environment for a short period of time before providing estimates for a new set of target distances with the blindfolded walking procedures. The results of Experiment 1, suggest that interaction with a VE serves to correct an initial bias toward the underestimation of absolute egocentric distance in VEs. The results of Experiment 2 suggest interaction with a VE serves to improve distance estimates through a process of visuo-motor adaptation to the scale of the VE, as the positive effects of interaction transfer to un-trained distance estimation tasks. Experiment 3 further confirmed the hypothesis that interaction serves to improve user’s distance estimates through a process of visuo-motor recalibration by documenting the presence of a perceptual aftereffect in user’s real world distance estimates subsequent to interaction with the VE. With Experiment 4, I attempted to determine the relative contribution of the information provided from multiple sensory systems during users period of interaction that allowed for such a recalibration of distance estimates. The results of Experiment 4 suggest that this recalibration is driven mainly by information derived from internally generated idiothetic or body-based sensory information. Lastly, with Experiment 5, I investigated the generalizability of the positive effects of interaction across multiple forms of wayfinding behaviors during user’s period of interaction. The results of Experiment 5, suggest that as long as the interaction task allows observers to be aware of the consequences of their actions they are able to use that information to recalibrate their distance estimates. Taken together these results suggest that interaction with a VE may provide a quick and efficient way to correct observer’s perceptual biases and allow for accurate perception of absolute egocentric distance and spatial awareness in immersive VE systems.
David Waller (Advisor)
92 p.
Virtual Reality; Virtual Environments; Distance Estimation

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Richardson, A. (2006). THE INFLUENCE OF PRIOR INTERACTION WITH AN IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT ON USER’S DISTANCE ESTIMATES [Doctoral dissertation, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1161020618

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Richardson, Adam. THE INFLUENCE OF PRIOR INTERACTION WITH AN IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT ON USER’S DISTANCE ESTIMATES. 2006. Miami University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1161020618.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Richardson, Adam. "THE INFLUENCE OF PRIOR INTERACTION WITH AN IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT ON USER’S DISTANCE ESTIMATES." Doctoral dissertation, Miami University, 2006. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1161020618

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

miami1161020618
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© 2006, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.