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The impact of misaligned idiotropic and visual axes on spatial ability under altered visuospatial conditions

  • S.I. : New Trends on Immersive Healthcare
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Abstract

Spatial ability, a critical dimension of human cognition, represents the ability to gather, perceive, and manipulate spatial information to create an accurate and complete mental representation of spatial environments. Previous studies have examined spatial ability in normal spatial conditions of the earth. However, emerging technologies and increasing exploration of hard-to-reach locations are transforming future workplaces into environments with altered visuospatial conditions, which may pose serious challenges to workers’ productivity and safety. One such condition is the misalignment of idiotropic and visual axes that may exist in microgravity during space explorations or underwater during deep-sea explorations. In this study, we investigate whether and to what extent misaligned idiotropic and visual axes influence spatial ability. The misalignment was simulated in Virtual Reality (VR) with three conditions: aligned (control group), misaligned (experiment group I), and dynamically misaligned (experiment group II) idiotropic and visual axes. The spatial ability of 99 participants was measured through spatial visualization, relations, and orientation abilities using the Purdue Spatial Visualization Test: Rotations (PSVTR), Mental Cutting Test (MCT), and Perspective-Taking Ability (PTA) test, respectively. For the MCT and PTA tests, the results show no significant differences in response accuracy among the three conditions. The PSVTR test results reflect a statistically significant difference in accuracy among the groups. The three groups did not have significantly different response times for the three tests. The results suggest that the misalignment of the body and visual axes may influence spatial visualization, but may not impact spatial relations or orientation.

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Acknowledgements

The presented work has been supported by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) through grant CNS 1928695. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support from the NSF. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the NSF.

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  1. Department of Construction Science, Texas A&M University, 3137 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    Faezeh Salehi & Manish K. Dixit

  2. Department of Construction Management, Bowling Green State University, BGSU, Bowling Green, OH, 43403-0001, USA

    Fatemeh Pariafsai

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Salehi, F., Pariafsai, F. & Dixit, M.K. The impact of misaligned idiotropic and visual axes on spatial ability under altered visuospatial conditions. Virtual Reality 27, 3633–3647 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-023-00859-z

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