Navigating through a virtual city: Using virtual reality technology to study human action and perception

The paper outlines the motivations of researchers in this field to start using virtual environments for their studies by presenting two such studies conducted in the laboratory and data on the phenomenon that observers tend to underestimate the perceived speed of their movement through a virtual environment.

Abstract

The introduction of virtual reality technology in the field of human perception and behaviour research has spawned many new research initiatives. The paper outlines the motivations of researchers in this field to start using virtual environments for their studies by presenting two such studies conducted in our laboratory. First, we discuss how we are building a large virtual model of the city of Tübingen and how we are using it for our research on human navigation behaviour. Second, we present data on the phenomenon that observers tend to underestimate the perceived speed of their movement through a virtual environment, and we discuss what implications these results have for the design of virtual environments.